Benfica lost more ground in the Liga Bwin title race at the beginning of the 23rd round of matches of the campaign, a bold Boavista fightback resulting in a 2-2 draw on Friday night. Sporting and Porto took advantage by recording wins over Estoril and Moreirense respectively.
Famalicão’s reversal of their fortunes continued with an impressive triumph at Marítimo, while Paços Ferreira ended some poor form with a vital victory over Vizela.
Another team to secure a hugely important three points was Arouca, who climbed out of the relegation places courtesy of a 3-1 success at Vitória Guimarães. Winger André Bukia was key throughout and is our PortuGOAL Figure of the Week.
26 year old DR Congo-born André Watshini Bukia has played in Portugal for the vast majority of his career, featuring in Braga and Penafiel’s youth teams before dropping to the lower tiers of the country with Vila Real to begin his senior experience. His form there was noticed by Primeira Liga Boavista, where he showed glimpses of his ability but in general found consistent runs in the XI hard to come by.
A loan move to then-second tier Arouca in 2017 turned permanent in the following year, but the team’s subsequent relegation from that division necessitated Bukia being temporarily dispatched to Kazakhstan with Kaysar, although this only last six months before the winger returned to help Arouca’s incredible ascension back to Primeira Liga in the eighteen months that followed.
Bukia was a consistent part of Arouca’s rise up the ranks, a near ever-present in the lineup as his side defeated Rio Ave in the relegation playoff last summer to ensure top flight football returned to the club for the first time in four years.
The DR Congo international perhaps has had a point to prove this season and indeed has maintained his status as one of the first names on the teamsheet for Arouca’s manager Armando Evangelista, and to illustrate this point Bukia has only failed to start one match in all competitions this season.
A tricky winger that is capable of operating in more central areas, owing to his attributes that of a player who often prefers to play “inside” rather than a touchline-hugging wide player.
Bukia was of course in the starting lineup for Saturday’s trip to Estádio D. Afonso Henriques against what has been an inconsistent Vitória Guimarães. Evangelista selected a front three comprised of Bukia, usual target-man André Silva and Antony, the latter starting on the left flank due to the usually selected Arsénio Martins’ suspension.
The trio proved an effective one though as they looked confident in attack from the early exchanges. Bukia himself almost opened the scoring in the eighth minute, latching onto André Silva’s through ball but Vitória keeper Bruno Varela proved equal to the eventual shot.
The first half was proving an eventual affair as each side exchanged goals, the host’s Óscar Estupiñán cancelling out Arouca’s opener through João Basso but the away team re-took the lead in the 35th minute with Bukia integral.
The DR Congo winger’s left-footed through pass was delicate and perfectly-weighted for the run of Antony, and the Brazilian did the rest with a confident finish.
There was still more time in the half for goals as Arouca stretched their lead with four minutes of the period remaining, Bukia himself getting on the scoresheet. The winger showed exceptional off the ball movement initially, dragging the Vitória defence out of position, before Bukia then collected André Silva’s pass. A drop of the shoulder fooled centre-back Abdul Mumin, with Bukia following it up with a beautiful dinked effort over the onrushing Varela.
A sublime goal from Bukia, representing his fourth of the campaign with as many assists to boot.
A quieter second half was to be expected and ultimately it saw the visitors hold out for the 3-1 triumph to leap out of the relegation places and into 15th place in the Liga Bwin table.
It’s been a quite predictably tough campaign for Arouca given the somewhat meteoric nature of their return to the top flight, but Saturday evening’s display and indeed Bukia’s recent individual form offers hope that they could be here to stay this time around.
André Bukia may not be one of the league’s better known names but that will soon change if these sorts of performances become more frequent between now and the end of the season.
By Jamie Farr
