Braga made it back to back wins in the Primeira Liga after a comfortable 4-0 victory in Vizela.
It was a slow burner with Al Musrati’s deflected strike putting the Warriors ahead in the 43rd minute.
Iuri Medeiros scored after the break and netted his second goal in the 65th minute.
There was no way back for Vizela, Ricardo Horta volleying home in the 75th minute.
Artur Jorge immediately shifts his focus to the crucial home game against Porto next Sunday.
Close contest
Chances were hard to come by in the opening stages, Vizela creating the first opportunity in the 13th minute when Kiki’s cross was volleyed over the bar by Samu.
Bruma couldn’t find any joy in the attacking third despite Nuno Sequeira and Bruma seeing plenty of ball down the left wing. Ricardo Horta fired a low drive at Fabijan Buntić from a free kick, but the Croatian goalkeeper was enjoying a quiet evening.
Kiko Bondoso threatened to break through on goal but was unable to find space among a pack of Braga defenders.
VAR wasting more time
The match took a backseat to VAR after a clearly offside Milutin Osmajić was sent through Samu. His shot was saved before Víctor Gómez clattered into Kiki, referee Artur Soares Dias pointing to the spot and then calling the offside.
Six minutes later, and after watching countless replays on the touchline monitor, Dias returned to the field to call the offside again.
Braga get on top
Less than 60 second later Braga opened the scoring. It was a scrappy build up, the ball eventually falling to Al Musrati whose shot took a big deflection and nestled into the bottom corner.
Vizela ended the first half strong, Kiko Bondoso testing Matheus and Raphael Guzzo firing over the bar.
Álvaro Djaló replaced Bruma at the break as Braga doubled their advantage four minutes into the second half. It was a simple goal, Gómez sending the ball into Iuri Medeiros who got past a halfhearted challenge from Bondoso and stroked the ball into the bottom corner.
Vizela had a great chance to reduce the deficit when Bondoso drove into the box and squared the ball perfectly for Nuno Moreira, the winger side footing the ball wide.
Djaló’s shot was blocked and Medeiros narrowly missed the top corner before Tulipa made his first change in the 60th minute, Moreira making way for Matías Lacava.
Game over
Braga put the game to bed in the 64th minute when they ruthlessly punished a Vizela turnover. André Horta won the ball, raced clear and got it back from Djaló, his cross picking out Medeiros who had time to pick his spot and beat Buntić.
Tulipa went to his bench again, replacing Claudemir and Raphael Guzzo with Pedro Ortiz and Friday Etim before Lacava missed the target with three separate shots.
Artur Jorge made two changes of his own in the 74th minute, André Horta and Medeiros making way for André Castro and Pizzi. Less than a minute Braga bagged their fourth goal, Musrati dinking the ball over Vizela’s defence where Ricardo Horta volleyed the ball past Buntić.
By Matthew Marshall at Estádio Do Vizela
