A surperbly contolled performance by Braga resulted in a shock 2-1 victory away at Benfica as the Lisbon club missed out on the chance to make up ground at the top of the table. 

First-half goals by new signing Fran Navarro and Robson Bambu gave the visitors a 2-0 lead at the break against an inexplicably apathetic Benfica team.

The hosts improved slightly in the second half but did not work Braga goalkeeper Matheus Magalhães enough and a goal by substitute Arthur Cabral proved to be only a consolation. The monumental calm of Vítor Carvalho and Bruma - the two best players on the pitch - personified a memorable all-round performance by Braga.  

Benfica stay in third place three points off the summit, failing to take advantage of Sporting’s draw and Porto’s postponed match yesterday, while Braga move up to fourth in the standings. 

It was an explosive resumption to Primeira Liga action after the Christmas and New Year festivities as Vitória drew 4-4 against leaders Sporting at the Estádio Dom Afonso Henriques tonight.

Viktor Gyökeres gave the Lions an early lead, Tiago Silva soon equalised with a brilliant free-kick, but with an hour gone Sporting seemed set for victory as Gyökeres completed his hat-trick to put the Portuguese champions 3-1 up.

Vitória refused to lie down, substitutes Telmo Arcanjo and João Mendes heavily involved as three goals in a 15-minute spell by Kaio César, João Mendes and Dieu Michel turned the game on its head and had the notoriously fanatical home supporters rocking in the stands as they watched their team take a 4-3 lead with just a few minutes left. 

There was one final twist to come though. On a night peppered with aesthetically pleasing goals, arguably the best of the lot was netted by Francisco Trincão in the 95th minute for a final 4-4 score. 

SC Braga will travel to the Estádio da Luz this weekend to take on SL Benfica in what promises to be an exciting Primeira Liga fixture between two of Portugal’s biggest clubs. Saturday’s encounter sees third-place Benfica host fifth-place Braga, with plenty to play for as we hit the halfway point of the season. 

Sunday’s gut-wrenching 1-0 loss at the hands of Sporting CP in the Lisbon derby saw Benfica drop below their inter-city rivals and FC Porto in the standings. Meanwhile, Braga will be aiming to get back to winning ways after losing their first league match in nearly 50 days on Sunday, suffering a slender 2-1 home defeat to Casa Pia AC. 

Porto became the latest team to see their trip to Madeira wasted after their Primeira Liga clash against Nacional was suspended after 17 minutes of play.

There were predictions of another postponement and they were spot on. It was little surprise when referee Tiago Martins finally stopped the game for good due to dense fog in Choupana.

There was little action to talk about, Luís Esteves forcing an early save from Diogo Costa the only real chance. Rodrigo Mora was fortunate to escape with just a yellow card after a late challenge on Djibril Soumaré that warranted a VAR intervention.

It was 18th game postponed due to bad weather at the Estádio da Madeira since the turn of the century, the third for Porto and second this season following Benfica. The match has been rescheduled for 5pm on Wednesday January 15th.