Sporting 2-2 FC Porto
Sporting and FC Porto were forced to share the spoils in the first ‘Clássico’ of the Primeira Liga season after Luciano Vietto’s 87th-minute finish secured a 2-2 draw for the Lions at the Alvalade, this Saturday.
The hosts stormed into the encounter by taking an early lead through Nuno Santos, prior to Matheus Uribe’s equaliser for the Dragons in the 25th minute.
Jesús Corona turned the game on its head for Sérgio Conceição’s men on the brink of half-time, but Porto would be unable to protect their lead en route to full time, succumbing to a late equaliser from Vietto that divides the points up for grabs in Lisbon.
It is one of only two clubs outside the three traditional powerhouses to have won the Portuguese league, however, in recent years, Boavista has often languished near the bottom of the table, struggling to even avoid relegation.
They are an integral part of the game, but it needs a special personality to become a football referee, especially in Portugal. Subject to constant abuse by tens of thousands of supporters in the stadium, and millions more watching on television, you certainly need a thick skin to take up a career as the rule enforcer in a sport that brings out such primal emotions among the protagonists and the viewers.
Football is the most popular sport on the planet, with billions of people who play or watch this sport on a regular basis, creating a level of interest that far outstrips any other sport.
After a summer unlike any other within the footballing spectrum, a chorus of whispers and rumours were at last silenced by the closure of the transfer window.