Portuguese Football in English
Three successive wins. Nine goals scored. None conceded. Sporting took another step towards putting their poor early season results behind them with a resounding win against high-flying Portimonense at Alvalade on a sunny Lisbon afternoon.
Two first-half Francisco Trincão goals put the Lions in charge and further strikes after the break from Pote and Nuno Santos will further boost Sporting’s confidence ahead of their Champions League encounter against Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday.
Braga beat Malmö 2-0 to get their Europa League campaign off to a winning start. It was a professional performance in cold, windy and wet conditions in Sweden.
A well worked corner routine saw Bruno Rodrigues open the scoring in the 30th minute. Nuno Sequeira won a penalty in the second half, Ricardo Horta dispatching the spot kick with the Swedish champions unable to respond.
It was the fifth consecutive victory for Artur Jorge's side who have scored 17 goals in that run without conceding.
Atlético Madrid snatched a 2-1 victory against Porto in an incredible Champions League match. The opening 90 minutes were largely uneventful before a ridiculous 11 minutes of added time where all three goals were scored.
Mario Hermoso’s deflected shot sailed over Diogo Costa before the defender gave away a penalty that Mateus Uribe squeezed past Jan Oblak. The visiting supporters were celebrating a well earned point but there was more drama to come.
In the 11th minute of nine added on with the last kick of the game from a corner, an unmarked Antoine Griezmann headed home at the back post with Atlético supporters celebrating their first home win in the Champions League since October 2020.
PortuGOAL's Matthew Marshall reports from Estádio Cívitas Metropolitano.
In 14 previous visits to German clubs in European competition Sporting had a record of 13 defeats and one draw, but it was a different story tonight at the Waldstadion.
After withstanding heavy pressure in first half, Sporting came out a transformed team after the break, and goals from Marcus Edwards, Francisco Trincão and Nuno Santos gave the Lions a 3-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt to get their Champions League campaign off to the perfect start.
Benfica got their Champions League Group H campaign off to a positive start with an ultimately straightforward 2-0 victory over Maccabi Haifa in Lisbon tonight.
The Israeli outfit proved a tough nut to crack in the first half, but two goals in five second half minutes by Rafa Silva and Alex Grimaldo got the job done in front of 55,162 appreciative fans.
