Benfica moved a step closer to dethroning Primeira Liga leaders FC Porto, following the latter’s shock defeat (the first loss for Porto this season in the league) to Paços de Ferreira at the Mata Real, last Sunday.
Having done their bit in beating Desportivo das Aves 2-0 at home on Saturday night, the Eagles watched on as a Miguel Vieira opener and Mário Felgueiras’ penalty heroics combined to hand Porto a 1-0 loss on Sunday, with the advantage at the top now trimmed to two points.
The Dragons’ slip-up also offered a glimmer of hope to Sporting, who cut the gap from third place back down to five points, thanks to Bas Dost’s double in a 2-1 win away to Chaves.
Sporting 2-0 Viktoria Plzen
Ask most football fans outside Portugal about the game in the country of the current European Champions and they would probably struggle to get past Benfica, Porto and Sporting.
With Sporting all but out of the title race, Jorge Jesus and his squad have set their sights on Europa League glory as the number one priority for the remainder of the season.
With the outcome all but decided before the kick-off, Sérgio Conceição shuffled his pack to gain a respectable result at Anfield, while making it absolutely clear that Sunday’s clash with Paços was his number one priority.