Primeira Liga round-up: Big Three win as Marítimo continue to shine

A combination of fatigued internationals and a pending European fixture stood as the perfect storm for some of the lesser-equipped sides of the Primeira Liga to make life difficult for the renowned Big Three, amidst talk that the top-flight of Portuguese football had grown to be uncompetitive.

The first to have their mettle tested was Sporting, spurning a two-goal lead away to Feirense before a last-minute Bas Dost penalty salvaged their 100% record in the league in a 3-2 win.

Benfica weren’t to have an easier ride, coming back from a goal down to defeat Portimonense 2-1 and return to winning ways, whereas FC Porto extended their good form with a humbling 3-0 victory against Chaves. PortuGOAL follows the main action, and zooms in on Marítimo’s Rodrigo Pinho as our Figure of the Week for Matchday 5.

 

Feirense 2-3 Sporting

Jorge Jesus will have known the full extent of the risk he took when turning to Fábio Coentrão in the summer, as a setback during the international break left the full back out of action for this particular contest.

What wasn’t in the plans, however, was a further injury, this time to Cristiano Piccini, that would leave Rodrigo Battaglia filling in at right back and the Lions drifting towards a soulless 0-0 draw at half-time.

Feirense braced themselves for a more aggressive iteration of Sporting in the second period, falling first to Sebastian Coates’ volley in the 62nd minute before Bruno Fernandes once again delighted his growing fan base with a lovely lifted effort to make it 2-0 minutes later.

João Silva offered doubt in the minds of Sporting fans when pulling a goal back for the hosts, compiled further by Peter Etebo’s thumping equaliser in the 80th minute, but with the last kick of the game, Dost converted his penalty and cemented Jesus’s best start to a Primeira Liga campaign with five wins from five.

 

Benfica 2-1 Portimonense

With Gabriel Barbosa’s eagerly anticipated debut on ice, Benfica turned to a more familiar Brazilian name in Jonas to fire the side back to winning ways, having been declared as fully fit to take on Portimonense at the Estádio da Luz.

The shine was to be placed on a lesser-known compatriot of theirs, however, as Fabrício teared past Luisão before bending a shot around Bruno Varela to give the visitors a surprise second-half lead.

That work was to be undone just a couple of minutes later after Emmanuel Hackman saw red for bringing Eduardo Salvio down inside the box, as Jonas handed the Eagles the desired response from the spot in the 59th minute.

Portimonense remained compact before André Almeida shocked all to volley an effort from a crossing position over the head of Ricardo Ferreira and into the back of the net in the 79th minute.

With the VAR landing Vítor Oliveira’s team the final blow when chalking off a late Fabrício equaliser, Benfica were able to make it four wins from five before their meeting with CSKA Moscow in the UEFA Champions League.

 

FC Porto 3-0 Chaves

The Dragons have already begun piecing together a nice tilt for title alongside their rivals, despite imitating Sporting and Benfica by going into half-time with a fruitless 0-0 draw of their own against Chaves.

The in-form Vincent Aboubakar was on hand to calm the mood early into the second period with the Dragons’ first of the night, despite growing pressure from Chaves in the hunt of a fresh stalemate.

Tiquinho Soares doubled Porto’s lead and comfort in the 86th minute from the penalty spot, and Moussa Marega closed the affair with a third for Sérgio Conceição’s men.

 

Figure of the Week - Rodrigo Pinho

There was plenty of doom shifted in Marítimo’s direction ahead of the new season after a series of departures following what many had judged to have been an overachieving 2016/17 campaign. The Primeira Liga mainstays had one victory and three defeats to their name at this stage last season, leaving Paulo César Gusmão a game away from the axe.

Daniel Ramos was the man trusted with turning the club’s fortunes around, and that he did, with Marítimo climbing high to end the season in 6th position, clutching to Europa League qualification.

As a consequence, the domestic success saw Marítimo part ways with a handful of star players, none more noticeable than the new Braga trio of Dyego Souza, Fransérgio and Raul Silva, later followed out by the now Urawa Red Diamonds defender Maurício.

The club’s prospects for the season looked grim again and many tipped Ramos’ team, despite his good work, to find themselves embroiled in a dog fight sooner rather than later, but the Maritimistas have again risen to defy the odds.

Although Dynamo Kiev did extinguish the European dream during the qualifiers, time has minimised that particular defeat to the Ukrainians to a small dash next to a record of four wins from a possible five league games, leaving Marítimo 4th behind the Big Three.

The latest of Marítimo’s conquests saw them leapfrog Rio Ave with a 1-0 win at home, a victory owed to the genius of Rodrigo Pinho in the final exchanges of the game. With one of the greatest assists you're sure to see all season, Pinho was able to bring down a searching ball from Gildo Vilanculos with a scorpion flick-on, catching the Rio Ave backline by surprise and leaving Ibson with the time in front of goal to pinch all three points for his team.

At the age of 26, the German-born Brazilian striker has found life difficult to crack in Portugal after failed spells with both Braga and Nacional since 2015. Two games in, however, Pinho will undoubtedly be hoping his eye-popping assist can elevate his underdog status, much like that of his new club.

By Patrick Ribeiro

 

Matchday 5 results

Feirense 2-3 Sporting

Benfica 2-1 Portimonense

Tondela 2-2 P. Ferreira

Marítimo 1-0 Rio Ave

FC Porto 3-0 Chaves

Vit. Setúbal 2-0 Braga

Vit. Guimarães 1-0 Boavista

Estoril 0-2 Moreirense

 

Monday 11 September

Desp. Aves - Belenenses

 

Related: Week Four round-up - Figure of the Week: Rio Ave coach Miguel Cardoso