Sporting beat Rio Ave 2-0 at Alvalade tonight in the first leg of the Portuguese Cup semi-final. First-half goals by Geny Catamo and Viktor Gyökeres (penalty) put the hosts firmly in control of the tie.

The Lisbon club will be wondering how they did not score more in the second half after Gyökeres hit the post, Catamo had the ball in the net only to see it ruled out for a narrow offside, and chance after chance went begging.

Rio Ave are still alive in the competition but will need a huge improvement in the second leg to have a chance of turning around the result. The return match will be played in Paços de Ferreira on 22 April given that Rio Ave’s home stadium in Vila do Conde was badly damaged in the recent Storm Martinho and cannot be used again this season. 

Liga Portugal is no stranger to producing top full-backs – From Fábio Coentrão to Alex Sandro to Nuno Mendes to Alejandro Grimaldo but despite the involvement of these names at the upper echelons of European football, this talent is not limited to the traditionally recognised ‘Big 3’ of Sporting Clube de Portugal, Sport Lisboa e Benfica and Futebol Clube do Porto.

Casa Pia’s Leonardo Lelo is another quality left-sided full-back entering the prime years of his career at the age of 25, flying the flag high for the Gansos as one of the most underrated players in the division. The former Portugal youth international has cemented himself among the top operators down the left flank, demonstrated by his two assists in Casa Pia’s recent 2-1 victory over Rio Ave.

The Man of the Match is the PortuGOAL Figure of the Week. Kevin Fernandes reports. 

Benfica 3-2 Farense

Going into Wednesday's Primeira Liga match against Farense SC, SL Benfica knew that anything short of a victory would be a massive disappointment. With Sporting CP just three points ahead of the Benfica, Bruno Lage put out an attacking side against a Farense team that has struggled of late. The last time Farense visited the Estadio da Luz, they managed an unlikely 1-1 draw. The struggling Algrave club were not far off obtaining another shock draw, falling just short on this occasion.

Two goals from Turkish winger Kerem Aktürkoğlu were enough to see Benfica survive this tricky affair, with the home side holding on to a slender 3-2 victory to go level on points with Sporting. Benfica have now won eight consecutive league matches, scoring 22 goals over that stretch. The result leaves Farense's season hanging in the balance, They remain 17th place in the league, six points away from safety. 

Sahir Bhojwani reports from the Estádio da Luz.

It’s getting to crunch time in the Liga II promotion race. Tondela and Vizela are in the box seat in the two automatic promotion spots with seven matches remaining, but Alverca have not given up the chase.

As we approach the end of the season, both the promotion and relegation battles are getting tighter and tighter. This week we saw the end of some battles for some teams.