In one of the most thrilling games of the weekend across Europe, Sunday evening saw André Villas-Boas’ Marseille stage a sensational comeback from 2-0 down to win 4-3 at Leonardo Jardim’s Monaco in France. The result has deep impacts on both Portuguese coaches, with Villas-Boas encouraged as his side move into the top 4 positions while Jardim is forced to answer questions about Deja-vu.
Another prominent Portuguese coach continues to make the headlines in Brazil after Jorge Jesus and Flamengo extended their lead at the top of the Brazilian league with victory over nearest rivals Santos. Meanwhile on the player front, Gonçalo Paciência and Raphaël Guerreiro were on target in Germany, while Nani’s sensational brace lit up the United States’ MLS and William Carvalho was sent off in Spain.
FRANCE: “A beautiful victory” for Villas-Boas as Jardim gets Deja-vu
The 7-goal thriller at Monaco’s Stade Louis II underlined the improvement in the attacking prowess of André Villas-Boas’ Marseille, but for Leonardo Jardim’s hosts the relinquishing of a lead is becoming an all too familiar feeling in Ligue 1 as they slip into the relegation zone.
Things started well for Jardim’s men when an early brace from summer recruit Wissam Ben Yedder had Monaco two goals up in 25 minutes. However, having thrown away leads in their previous two matches, the Monegasques continued the trend in particularly dramatic fashion by conceding two goals in the space of three minutes to Dario Benedetto and Valerie Germain which meant the sides went into half time level at 2-2.
Monaco’s mental fragility made further Marseille goals almost inevitable and Dimitri Payet’s sensational strike was followed by another from Benedetto to put Villas-Boas’ team 4-2 up within twenty minutes of the re-start. Substitute Keita Balde scored to bring the score to 4-3 and give hope to Jardim’s team, which contained Gelson Martins and saw Adrien Silva a second half introduction, but Marseille held on to claim the victory.
"It's a very beautiful victory,” Villas-Boas said after the match. “We played good football. We were surprised to go 2-0 down as we were playing well at that time. So the Dario (Benedetto) goal was important. The boys gained confidence and then levelled the score.
“The second half was very good. Monaco’s third goal made us suffer, as I was hoping we would make it more comfortable and we’d score a fifth. Monaco are a good team, especially on transitions. At the end of the game, we had to defend a lot. I'm happy for the players. We are 4th in the standings. We have suffered a lot lately.”
For Jardim, an awfully familiar feeling as Monaco slump into the relegation places and are without a win from their opening five matches. A troublesome start to last season saw the Portuguese fired in October, only to be reinstated in January in order to rescue the team from a battle against the drop to Ligue 2.
Inevitably, the former Sporting boss was asked about a similar start to the current campaign. “I will not compare the beginning of this season to last year,” said Jardim. “The important thing is this year. We’ve given away a lot of goals, and we need to work on that. We need to adjust our defence, we must stay more focused and do better. We lose two one-on-ones, leading to the second goal. We need to be more attentive.
“I think we controlled the match during the first thirty minutes. At 2-1, the players panicked a bit and the opponent took advantage. They came back with a lot of confidence, but we still reacted well with the third goal. It is difficult for us, but we made a lot of mistakes. We must be more vigilant. For the spectators it was a great match, but not for us.”
Sousa’s Bordeaux into top half; Renato Sanches in sub role
Also in France, Paulo Sousa is finding form with Bordeaux after two early goals saw them beat Metz 2-0 at home on Saturday evening. Veteran Jimmy Briand and Nicolas de Preville moved Sousa’s men into the top half of the table and extended their unbeaten run to four matches after a difficult start to the new season.
However, Sousa was not in the mood to get carried away after the match. "The victory gives me more pleasure than the performance,” he said. “We made a good start. But after twenty minutes, the team lost all its aggression. We retreated. We did not press. We just tried to contain attacks. We lost a lot of balls and we lost control of the match.
“The opponent was given the opportunity to play in midfield and build opportunities. For that, I'm not happy at all. My only satisfaction is not to have conceded a goal. Our opponent got close but the defenders did well. But we still have to work hard to install a culture throughout the match. Three to four months is not enough to give a strong mentality. It takes time.”
Elsewhere, Renato Sanches was rested to a substitute role by Lille coach Christophe Galtier ahead of their midweek trip to Ajax in the Champions League, but José Fonte did play as Lille beat an Angers side containing Mathias Lage 2-1 at home on Friday evening. Lyon were also in action on Friday due to their Champions League clash with Zenit on Tuesday, and Portugal goalkeeper Anthony Lopes conceded a stoppage-time equaliser as they drew 2-2 at Amiens.
BRAZIL: Flamengo go three clear
A sensational goal scored by former Benfica striker Gabriel Barbosa gave Jorge Jesus’ Flamengo a vital 1-0 victory over title rivals Santos at the Maracanã on Saturday evening. The win – Flamengo’s sixth in a row – extended Mengão’s lead at the top of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A table to three points as champions Palmeiras leapfrogged Santos into second spot.
Gabriel’s outrageously executed chip from distance settled the match, after which Jesus was quizzed on whether Flamengo are the best team he has coached. The Rio de Janeiro outfit have won plaudits across the country’s media for their stylish football, with pundits praising Flamengo for playing proactive football regardless of their opponents.
Having overwhelmed Palmeiras in a scintillating display earlier this month during a 3-0 victory which ultimately cost former Portugal boss Luiz Felipe Scolari his job with the defending champions, Flamengo were again impressive against Santos albeit the scoreline reflected a close-fought match.
"I told the players: Barcelona vs Real Madrid, Manchester derby – take your pick. That's what Flamengo and Santos did,” Jesus said after the match. “There were few chances. Both teams defended well. Santos had no chances on goal.
“Are Flamengo the best team I have ever coached? I've wondered about that. It may not be the best, but I do wonder. In the first year at Benfica I had a fabulous team. Cardozo, Saviola, Di María, Ramires, Aimar. It was a creative team. I don't know which one is better.”
ITALY: Fonseca praises players after first Serie A win
Paulo Fonseca secured his first Serie A victory in sensational style as Roma hit four goals in just 33 minutes against Sassuolo on Sunday. The Giallorossi ran out eventual 4-2 winners, with a debut goal from new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan a particular highlight for Fonseca, who was pleased with the attacking structure of his side.
"I hope that this will be the first of a lot of victories," the former Porto boss said. "Today we showed our ability to press high, and while we scored four goals it could have been seven or eight. And that’s against a very good side, who use the ball well.
“Defensively it was our best performance so far. Sassuolo really didn’t create many chances. Yes, they scored twice, but the team defended well generally.”
“We made some changes to the team – Pellegrini played higher up the pitch. With [Jordan] Veretout and [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan in the team, we’re better at keeping the ball. I must say that everyone performed very well tonight.”
Asked to expand on his focus on the team’s pressing, Fonseca added: “Our pressing begins from the front, so it’s very important for us to have a high line. We did that well today, with Justin [Kluivert], Mkhitaryan and Dzeko, at an important point of the game. The team needs to be able to press high and I think they did it very well today.
“Does that mean taking risks in defence? If we press very high, we are taking risks but if it is done well there are actually fewer risks in defence. [Aleksandar] Kolarov and [Alessandro] Florenzi waited for the right time to move up the wings. They understood when it was the right moment to push up.”
Elsewhere in Serie A, Juventus dropped their first points of the season as Cristiano Ronaldo featured in a goalless draw at Fiorentina. Meanwhile, Mário Rui played in Napoli’s 2-0 win over Sampdoria and Bruno Alves started for Parma as they were beaten 3-1 at home by Cagliari, but there was no action for Rafael Leão who watched AC Milan’s 1-0 win at Verona from the bench. Miguel Veloso captained Verona, who spent most of the match with ten men owing to Mariusz Stepinski’s red card after twenty minutes.
GERMANY: Paciência, Guerreiro on target
André Silva was paired with countryman Gonçalo Paciência on his Bundesliga debut for Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, but Silva’s first outing in Germany ended in a 2-1 defeat at Augsburg. Paciência scored Frankfurt’s goal in the loss with a nicely taken left-footed finish in the second half, making it three goals in his last three Bundesliga games for the 25-year-old.
Both Paciência and Silva played the full match and both players worked hard against an increasingly defensive Augsburg during the second half, but failure to find an equaliser saw Frankfurt slip to 9th in the table. “We were asleep for a lot of the first half and deserved to be 2-0 down at half-time,” Frankfurt coach Aldi Hutter said. “It’s very rare for us to be as naive as we were in that first half. That’s why the reaction after the break pleased me. We were a very different side in the second half and were much more dominant. Overall it’s frustrating to go home with nothing.”
There was better news in Dortmund as Raphaël Guerreiro scored his first Bundesliga goal of the season on Saturday afternoon. Borussia Dortmund hammered Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 at home and Guerreiro scored the third goal, helping start the move inside his own half before later arriving in the box to finish with his right foot after good work by English youngster Jadon Sancho.
Related article: Portugal star Raphaël Guerreiro agrees new Borussia Dortmund deal
SPAIN: William Carvalho sees red as João Félix’s Atletico humbled
Portugal midfielder William Carvalho received a first-half red card in La Liga on Sunday evening as Real Betis earned a 1-1 draw with Getafe at home in a game they finished with nine men. Carvalho was sent off – the first dismissal of his career – midway through the first half for a trip on Mauro Arambarri which was upgraded from a yellow card to a red by VAR.
The officiating during the game was the subject of discussion after the final whistle, with Betis captain Joaquin expressing his frustration over the red cards issued to his side despite Getafe committing far more frequent and far more cynical fouls in the eyes of the veteran winger.
Betis coach Rubi appeared to agree, telling reporters: “Carvalho's situation is about interpretation, we cannot complain if they (VAR) think it is red although we think it could have been a yellow. It is interesting that they made 28 fouls in the game and it’s us who have two players sent off.”
🤦♂ Betis' night goes from bad to worse!
— Premier Sports 📺 (@PremierSportsTV) September 15, 2019
🔴 It's a straight red card for William Carvalho and Getafe now have a man advantage to go with their 1-0 lead pic.twitter.com/hlvyG3Zgd9
Atletico Madrid were displaced from top spot in La Liga after a 2-0 defeat at Real Sociedad. João Félix was replaced by Atleti coach Diego Simeone on 57 minutes with the match goalless, but the change certainly did not prove effective as within four minutes of Félix’s departure Sociedad had scored twice.
Barcelona caught the eye this weekend with an emphatic 5-2 win over crisis-stricken Valencia at Camp Nou. Nélson Semedo continues to be an ever-present at right-back for Barca with another start, while Gonçalo Guedes played for Valencia, who sacked popular coach Marcelino earlier this month after disagreements with the club’s board.
In the Spanish Segunda Division, former Manchester United striker Bebé scored his first goal of the season, getting the second in the dying minutes for Rayo Vallecano as they beat Racing Santander 2-0. With the opposition, including goalkeeper, up the field in search of an equaliser, Bebé broke in possession and ran the ball into an empty net.
GOALS: Nani brilliance; Queirós on the scoresheet in Belgium
Portugal veteran Nani has certainly regained his form in MLS after the Seleção star followed up his goal against Los Angeles last week with a brace and an assist for Orlando City this weekend against New England Revolution. The sides played out a 3-3 draw in Florida, with the visitors shocking their opponents by going 3-1 up at half time, leaving Nani to inspire the comeback.
By that point Nani had already got his name on the scoresheet, with his deft near-post header the only highlight in a calamitous defensive display in the opening 45 minutes by Orlando. Less than two minutes after the re-start the deficit was halved when Nani’s cross was headed in by Dom Dwyer, but the best was yet to come from the former Sporting graduate.
Just some five minutes after helping pull a goal back, Nani scored a wonderful individual equaliser, twice shifting the ball before firing past Matthew Turner from outside the area. The sensational start to the second period appeared to give Orlando the platform to go on to win the game, but there were no further goals and both sides settled for a point.
In Belgium, a rare case of two goals from Portuguese defenders this weekend, with stoppers at opposing ends of their careers getting on the scoresheet. Sint-Truiden stalwart Jorge Teixeira, 33, scored a 94th minute equaliser to earn his side a 1-1 draw with Beveren, while on-loan Porto defender Diogo Queirós scored the first top-flight goal of his career in Mouscron’s 2-0 win over Kortrijk. In Bulgaria, Dinis Almeida marked his debut for Lokomotiv Plovdiv with a goal and a 3-2 victory at Tsarsko Selo.
NANI PUTTING THE TEAM ON HIS BACK
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 15, 2019
What. A. Finish. #ORLvNE pic.twitter.com/J16iF1BnDh
GREECE: Abel and Martins set to battle for title; Sturgeon the hero again
Champions PAOK Saloniki and Olympiakos appear set to be the biggest contenders for the Greek Super League again this season, with both sides maintaining their 100% starts to the new season. The manner of the victories were in stark contrast, however, as Abel Ferreira’s PAOK snatched victory away at Atromitos with a stoppage-time winner while Olympiakos, led by Pedro Martins, destroyed Volos 5-0 at home.
For Abel’s PAOK, who won the title undefeated last season, three wins from their first three matches represents a much-needed moral boost after early elimination from European competition. "With all due the respect I have for my opponent, I think in the first 30 minutes my team could have scored many more goals,” Abel said having seen his side squander a two-goal lead. “After they made it 2-2 we made the team more aggressive. In my opinion we showed that we wanted it the most, we scored a goal that was ruled out and showed great mental reserves, as we managed to score the winning goal and get the result we wanted.
“The truth is that since I first came here I have been accepted and thank you all for accepting me. My mission is all that I have shown in previous years. To make the best of my players and make the team more spectacular. If I'm not mistaken the former coach did a great job. I have now come and I think the team has a lot of room for improvement. That's why I'm here to help the team improve. We never forget. Last year's team wrote a story, but we are starting something new.”
For Olympiakos, the 5-0 win in which José Sá and Daniel Podence featured, was the perfect warm-up for Wednesday’s match with Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League. "It's true how much easier it is for a team to prepare after a win and especially for Olympiakos. We are happy at the moment having won, but Wednesday is a completely different match than the game we played today,” said Martins, before adding he expects defender Rúben Semedo to be fit to play on Wednesday.
Sturgeon the match-winner
Former Feirense striker Sturgeon scored a winning goal for the second match running to give Xanthi a 2-1 victory over Asteras Tripolis on Sunday. The 25-year-old, who ended last season in Portugal by scoring against Benfica, was also the difference maker in his team’s 2-1 win at Panaitolikos in the previous round. As for Panaitolikos this weekend, the side led by rookie coach Luís Castro are still without a point following a 3-1 loss at OFI.
ASIA: Arsénio grabs equaliser in Saudi Arabia as Paulo Sergio gets first win
It was a busy weekend for the expanding group of Portuguese coaches in Asian football, particularly the Middle East contingent. Leading the stories however is former Moreirense striker Arsénio, who scored a 94th-minute equaliser to earn Al Feiha, coached by ex Boavista boss Jorge Simão, a 1-1 draw at heavyweights Al-Hilal.
Also in the Saudi Pro League, former Sporting manager Paulo Sergio got his first win with new club Al Taawon – where he replaced Almeria-bound Pedro Emanuel – as they ran out 3-2 winners over Al Adalah. Champions Al-Nassr, led by Rui Vitória, were held 0-0 at home by Al Shabab.
In the Far East, there were contrasting fortunes for Portuguese bosses at two of Asia’s top sides. Vítor Pereira’s Shanghai SIPG conceded three times in the opening half hour in a 3-1 defeat at Shandong Luneng which leaves them a worrying six points adrift of leaders Guangzhou Evergrande with just six rounds of action left. Also in the CSL, Seleção forward Dyego Sousa provided an assist in Shenzhen’s 1-1 draw with Beijing Guoan.
In South Korea, José Morais continues to guide Jeonbuk Motors in top spot in the KL-1. Jeonbuk’s 2-1 win over Sanju Sangmu on Saturday means Morais’ side are three points clear at the top of the table, which will progress to a playoff to determine the champions after another four rounds of action. Jeonbuk are unbeaten in 18 league matches under Morais, who left Ukrainians Karpaty to take the role earlier this year.
Related article: Morais heads to Korea
NETHERLANDS: Feyenoord save Edgar Ié’s blushes; Bruma helps PSV rout
Portuguese defender Edgar Ié scored a spectacular own goal for Dutch giants Feyenoord this weekend, but the former Belenenses man was relieved to still be on the winning side in the Eredivisie. With his team three goals up, the 25-year-old horribly misjudged an attempted acrobatic clearance and put the ball past his own goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer ahead of the game ending 3-2.
Elsewhere in the Netherlands, Portugal winger Bruma played a good supporting role as PSV smashed Vitesse 5-0 with all five goals scored by PSV forward Donyell Malen. Bruma laid on the firs goal for Malen, making it two assists for the former Sporting man in the league to go with one goal. Finally in the Dutch league, another ex-Sporting player Mica Pinto was sent off for Fortuna Sittard in their 3-2 defeat at home to FC Twente.
Other business: Shakhtar run continues despite Castro absence
Luís Castro’s Shakhtar Donetsk warmed up for their midweek clash with Manchester City by maintaining their 100% record in the Ukrainian Premier League. Shakhtar recovered from surprisingly going 2-0 down at home to Zorya by staging a comeback and running out 4-3 winners to make it seven wins from seven in his new job.
However, the former Vitória de Guimarães coach was not on the bench for the victory, with a small health problem meaning assistant coach Vítor Severino took charge of matters. “This week was different from our usual one,” Severino said. “Luís Castro has a minor ear issue. Everything’s fine, he will be with the team shortly. The past week was different, but not difficult.
“Before the match, we told the players that we were grateful to them for their behaviour and mettle: despite the temporary absence of the manager, they proved themselves as real professionals. I am grateful to the whole coaching staff and personnel because thanks to our interaction the week passed well.
“Shakhtar is a big club where everyone knows what needs to be done. Of course, we had a chat with Luís. He said: “I will watch the match and give my feedback, but we are a family. You trust me, I trust you. So it’s up to you to make decisions because it’s you who stand on the sidelines and feel the game. And I’ll watch it on TV.” This is how our philosophy works.”
It was a bad weekend for British-based managers as all three of England’s representatives were beaten. In the Premier League, Nuno’s Wolverhampton Wanderers, with Rui Patrício, João Moutinho, Rúben Neves and Diogo Jota, were thrashed 5-2 at home by Chelsea; Everton boss Marco Silva was without André Gomes for a 3-1 defeat to Bournemouth; Reading’s José Gomes completed the trio of defeats with a 1-0 reverse at Middlesbrough in the Championship.
Finally, other Portuguese Abroad stories included Legia Warsaw left-back Luís Rocha receiving a first-half red card for two bookable offences in their goalless draw with Jagiellonia Bialystock in Poland. Meanwhile in Turkey, Ricardo Quaresma’s full debut for Kasimpasa ended in a 1-0 defeat at Galatasaray, while Trabzonspor’s 2-2 draw at home against Genclerbirligi saw João Pereira set up a goal for the hosts and Daniel Candeias provide the assist for a late equaliser for the visitors.
By Sean Gillen
