Only ten rounds of matches remain of the 2021/22 Liga Bwin season after Jornada 24 concluded with Braga and Santa Clara’s 0-0 draw yesterday evening.
Porto and Sporting both dropped points in the title race, allowing Benfica to gain some ground with a comfortable win over Vitória Guimarães.
The match of the weekend took place at Estoril as Boavista came away victorious in a 3-2 thriller. Their hero on the day was the unlikely source of centre-back Rodrigo Abascal, who is our PortuGOAL Figure of the Week.
Rodrigo Abascal Barros was likely not a name too familiar to Portuguese audiences upon his transfer to Boavista in August 2021. Indeed this move represents the player’s first experience of European football at the age of 28 having spent the entirety of his previous career in South America in his native Uruguay.
On the face of it his free transfer from Peñarol looked to represent a backup option for Boavista’s squad based on his profile yet the defender quickly found himself thrown into the action last summer, in part due to a multitude of injuries elsewhere in the squad not long after his arrival. Abascal quickly settled though, helping the team to a clean sheet in his debut with the 2-0 win over Santa Clara.
A tough-tackling no nonsense kind of defender, Abascal has picked up his share of cards in his short time in Portugal but overall has proved a trusted part of Boavista both under current boss Petit and predecessor João Pedro Sousa, both coaches favouring three central defenders within their respective setups.
Having served a suspension the week previous, Abascal was restored to the starting lineup for Boavista’s trip to Estoril on Sunday afternoon. An action-packed first half saw the hosts take an early lead before Petar Musa’s leveller.
Abascal would make a significant contribution to the match early in the second half in quite impressive fashion. Gustavo Sauer’s deep free kick swirled into the box before the Uruguayan centre-half expertly guided a header past Estoril keeper Dani Figueira.
A terrific finish made so impressive by the fact that Abascal was facing completely away from goal, yet there felt nothing fortuitous to the execution of the header on the Uruguayan’s part.
Estoril equalised through an André Franco penalty but Boavista stole the three points late in the game with Abascal again taking on an integral role in proceedings. On this occasion the defender showed a rarely-seen side to his game by turning provider, his excellent cross into the box deep from the left flank being finished off by Luís Santos’ powerful header.
A brilliant ball into the danger zone that got the finish it deserved, Abascal the unlikely assister for unsurprisingly the first time this season, and what a moment to get it as Boavista registered only their fourth league victory of the campaign.
Abascal certainly will be judged more on his defensive duties but Sunday’s encounter showed what a threat he has the capacity to be in more offensive situations. An underrated but competitive, industrious player who is somewhat in his current manager’s own image, the Uruguayan’s stability could yet be an important bedrock on which Boavista’s Liga Bwin maintenance mission will be built upon.
By Jamie Farr
