Portuguese Football in English
Real Betis 2-3 Barcelona
Francisco Trincão scored his first Barcelona goal in unforgettable circumstances on Sunday evening, coming off the bench to produce a sensational late winner to beat Real Betis.
With Barca trailing 1-0, both Trincão and Lionel Messi entered from the bench in the 57th minute and the pair would go on to inspire a comeback which was crowned by a late piece of brilliance from the former Braga winger.
Hoffenheim 1-3 Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt striker André Silva’s chances of challenging the all-time club record for most goals in a Bundesliga season grew stronger this weekend with another goal in victory at Hoffenheim.
Frankfurt are one of the Bundesliga’s in-form sides. A further win on Sunday afternoon makes it seven wins and a draw from their least eight league matches. Silva clinched the points with the third goal just after the hour mark, nodding in Filip Kostic’s perfectly-weighted cross at the back post for yet another strike in a prolific season for the Portuguese.
André Villas-Boas left his position as coach of French side Marseille earlier this week, and according to reports another Portuguese could be set to replace him at the Stade Velodrome.
Villas-Boas announced his resignation on Tuesday, having clashed with the Marseille board over transfers at the end of the window. The former Porto boss had suggested as recently as last week that he did not expect to remain with the club much longer, and his exit comes after 18 months in the Marseille dugout.
A good night for the Portuguese in the Premier League on Tuesday evening saw Nuno Espírito Santo’s Wolverhampton Wanderers come from behind to beat Arsenal while Manchester United and Bruno Fernandes destroyed Southampton 9-0 at Old Trafford.
João Moutinho produced a stunning winner for Wolves after Rúben Neves had scored from the penalty spot in their 2-1 win over the Gunners, and Fernandes made it a great goalscoring night for the Luso contingent with a second-half spot kick and two assists as United ran riot against the 10-man Saints.
Inter 1-2 Juventus
Italian champions Juventus took a significant advantage in their Coppa Italia semi-final with Inter by winning 2-1 in the first leg at San Siro thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo double.
In what was an eventful opening to the game, the Portugal captain scored from the penalty spot on 26 minutes to cancel out Lauturo Martinez’s early opener, and then Ronaldo defied his status as the oldest outfield player on the pitch to press the Nerazurri defence into an error and put Juve ahead ten minutes before the break.
