Braga, Belenenses & Sporting all win
It was a perfect night for Portuguese football in the Europa League.
Sporting dispatched Albanian outfit Skenderbeu 5-1 at the Alvalade, despite coach Jorge Jesus selecting a second-string team, while on an emotional night in Braga the hosts won a thrilling game 3-2 against French side Marseille.
The result of the night however was obtained by Belenenses, who against all expectations came from behind to beat Basel 2-1 in Switzerland.
Braga 3-2 Marseille
Braga coach Paulo Fonseca insisted pre-match that his side would face Marseille "without fear", as the Arsenalistas sought to clock up a 3rd straight win in the Europa League. He was as good as his word in what turned out to be a thrilling match and an emotional night at the AXA Stadium.
Egyptian striker Hassan lost his father yesterday, but insisted he play in his honour. So when the former Rio Ave marksman collected a neat pass from Rafa and produced a sublime chip over goalkeeper Mandanda on the hour mark to give Braga the lead, his emotions came to the fore as he wept copiously and pointed with both hands to the sky, surrounded by all of his team-mates.
"It was a special moment for me and my family. I'm here because of my father. I tried to score a goal for him. He was everything for me. He always helped me. He taught me to be strong. I hope he rests in peace. He deserves it," said Hassan in the post-match interview.
Braga doubled their lead on 77 minutes through substitute Wilson Eduardo, but then seemed to have thrown it all away as Marseille scored two goals in three minutes through Alessandrini and Batshuayi to make it all square.
But Alan had the last laugh, scoring in the 89th minute to put Braga five points clear at the top of Group F and virtually through to the knockout round at the halfway stage.
Sporting 5-1 Skenderbeu
Jorge Jesus took the radical solution of resting practically his entire first-choice XI ahead of the Lisbon derby against Benfica on Sunday. Of the eleven players who began against Albanian side Skenderbeu at the Alvalade tonight, only Rui Patrício is likely to be in the starting line-up at the Luz.
And the coach admitted afterwards he was "surprised" his team gave such a positive response, running out easy winners, scoring five goals and dominating the opposition from start to finish.
The hosts took command from the start, with Montero's technique too much for the naive defending of the visitors, and things were made easier for Sporting when Skenderbeu striker Sahili was sent off on 24 minutes for trying to punch the ball into the net, having picked up a yellow card earlier.
Montero won two penalties in quick succession before the break, duly dispatched by Aquilani and the Colombian striker himself to put Sporting in a comfortable position at half time.
Further goals followed by Matheus Pereira (the young Brazilian scoring a brace for the second successive match) and Tobias Figueiredo, and only some excellent goalkeeping by Albanian stopper Shehi prevented an outrageous thrashing. Jashanica scored a late consolation goal for the visitors with a fine header from a corner.
The poor level of the opposition makes it difficult to draw too many conclusions, but Bruno Paulista in midfield put in an eye-catching display, and Jonathan Silva and Fredy Montero were also excellent. As for Matheus, four goals in his first two senior starts for Sporting is some way to get his first-team career off the ground.
Basel 1-2 Belenenses
On the back of a 4-0 thumping at home against Fiorentina in their last Europa League outing and struggling to find their form in the Liga, Belenenses travelled to Switzerland to face Group I leaders Basel with a degree of trepidation.
And when Lang gave the hosts the lead on 15 minutes hopes of a positive result were further eroded. However, Luís Leal had other ideas, scoring a thumping long-range equaliser in the 27th minute, then setting up Kuca with a perfect assist on the stroke of half time to put the Portuguese side ahead.
Belenenses saw out the second half without undue alarm to record a victory that puts them back in contention for a place in the knockout rounds.
by Tom Kundert
