The Liga NOS title race remains neck and neck after week 27, Benfica and Porto both striking late to keep their respective bids on track in hard-fought encounters. The bottom three remained as they were as each suffered defeat, while Moreirense continued their impressive charge up the table.

One other big winner of the weekend was Sporting, taking advantage of Braga’s loss to Porto to leapfrog them into 3rd place. A tempestuous encounter was punctuated with controversy throughout, but the Lions came through in no small part due to the contribution of striker Luiz Phellype, who is PortuGOAL’s Figure of the Week.

• Benfica
• Primeira Liga,
• Sporting,
• FC Porto,
• Sporting de Braga,

FC Porto were twice forced to come from a goal down to defeat Sporting de Braga 3-2 away, with goals from Tiquinho Soares and Alex Telles temporarily putting the Dragons top prior to Benfica’s win over Tondela, this Saturday.

Porto’s success over Braga enabled a route back into the top three for Sporting, who upon defeating relegation-threatened Chaves in Trás-os-Montes opened up a one-point-advantage over fourth place thanks to a 3-1 win.

Benfica followed suit in their late kick-off at home to lowly-placed Tondela, requiring a late Haris Seferovic goal to nick a 1-0 victory and reclaim top-spot after a few hours off the summit. PortuGOAL has all of the action at the top of the Primeira Liga upon its return from the international break.

The final Liga NOS round before the international break leaves the division tantalisingly poised at both ends of the table going into the final straight of matches. The top 4 remained as is, the big quartet all registering victories, while the relegation battle tightened up as Chaves captialised on results around them.

One big mover was Vitória Guimarães, who leapfrogged Moreirense and moved into 5th place after a 3-1 defeat of Boavista. Their key man on the day, and PortuGOAL Figure of the Week, was Brazilian midfielder Mattheus Oliveira.

• Benfica
• Sporting,
• FC Porto,
• Sporting de Braga,

It’s ‘begin as you mean to go on’ for all four of the Primeira Liga’s top sides with wins across the board ahead of the final international break.

A sole goal from Raphinha was enough to turn Sporting’s home encounter versus Santa Clara into a 1-0 victory on Friday night, applying pressure on Sporting de Braga before their game against Vitória de Setúbal.

Abel Ferreira’s men replied to the Lions’ pursuit of third place with a 1-0 win, away from home, before being joined in triumph later on Saturday night by Porto in their 3-0 dissecting of Marítimo.

Benfica brought the action at the top to a close with 4-0 win away to high-flying Moreirense, this Sunday, leaving the Primeira Liga standings as you were for another week. PortuGOAL brings you all the action at the summit of the table.