PortuGOAL Figure of the Week: Joel Tagueu’s treble helps majestic Marítimo batter Boavista

Only four rounds of Portuguese Primeira Liga action remain after a pivotal long weekend of action that seemingly settled the destination of this season’s league title, Porto’s thrashing of Portimonense likely confirming the return of the championship to the Dragões following defending champions Sporting’s painful loss to local rivals Benfica.

Down at the bottom end of the table Moreirense and Belenenses SAD each gave their survival bids much-needed shots in the arm by overcoming Tondela and Vizela to seriously intensify the overall battle to avoid the drop.

One side who look to have avoided being dragged into the fight is Marítimo, who reversed some recent poor form in stunning style after battering Boavista largely due to a hat-trick from forward Joel Tagueu, who completes another treble by being named our PortuGOAL Figure of the Week for the third time in four seasons.

Cameroon international striker Joel Tagueu finally became a permanent Marítimo player in the summer of 2020 following two loan spells with the club from Brazilian side Cruzeiro. Over these years the 28 year old has proved himself a valuable asset in Madeira, even if perhaps his form and regularity of selection in the starting XI has been somewhat inconsistent.

In 2021/22 he has added a bit more consistency in both regards however, benefiting from the mid-season arrival of manager Vasco Seabra, whose takeover of the team coincided well with Joel’s own recovery from an early season injury.

After briefly losing his place to Iranian strike partner Ali Alipour in late February of this year, Joel quickly re-established his place in Seabra’s preferred 4-3-3 lineup just a couple of games later. Here, the Cameroonian can operate effectively as a lone frontman, utilising his strength and pace while showing a decent eye for goal in the context of what can be an occasionally blunt attacking force of a team.

Going into Saturday’s contest at home to Boavista both Joel and Marítimo as a unit were amid a scrappy run of form with only one win in the previous seven matches; a sequence in which the forward had only scored once. 

However both player and team reversed this trend in an emphatic manner on a memorable afternoon for the home side. The first period was largely forgettable but Marítimo sparked into life late in the half, breaking the deadlock in the 41st minute. Joel himself was inches away from scoring it, his diverted effort from Zainadine Júnior’s shot miraculously cleared off the line but centre-back Matheus Costa was in the right place to fire home the rebound.

In first-half stoppage time Joel rectified his own miss by doubling Marítimo’s lead with a classic forward’s goal, wanting the ball more than the attentions of Boavista’s defence to muscle his way to Bruno Xadas’ inviting cross to bury a header from close range.

Around the hour mark Marítimo put the game beyond Boavista and Joel was once again fully central as to how and why, doing well to draw a foul from opposition defender Rodrigo Abascal and win a penalty, which he himself confidently converted into the top corner, sending goalkeeper Rafael Bracali the wrong way.

Minutes later it was 4-0 as Joel wrapped up his hat-trick. The striker did well to latch onto a loose ball following a superb run from right-back Cláudio Winck, the Cameroon forward keeping his cool to then round Bracali and delay astutely to avoid the recovering defenders to slot into an empty net.

A clinical treble from Joel and no more than he and his side deserved on a dominant afternoon in Madeira, enough to see Marítimo move into 7th position in Liga Bwin.

An ultimately comfortable win that will almost certainly be enough to preserve Marítimo’s Primeira Liga status for another campaign, and they will hope to do so by virtue of a top half finish to represent real progress from the previous season’s narrow escape from the drop. Joel too is on course for improvement this time around, his treble enough to equal his total Liga Bwin output from 2020/21. With four games remaining, achieving a Primeira Liga personal best is well in sight for the Cameroonian.

By Jamie Farr

@FRfutebolJamie