Portuguese Abroad: Bruno Fernandes, Nani, Veloso shine as Costa helps Leeds closer to promotion

Portuguese footballers continue to light up European football amidst the packed fixture schedule across the continent, with Bruno Fernandes once again leading the way with another starring role in Manchester United’s latest victory in England and Nani marking the return of MLS with a late winner.

Fernandes scored from the spot and provided an assist as United cruised to a 3-0 victory at Aston Villa, on the day that Hélder Costa found the net to help Leeds United edged closer to promotion to the Premier League. Meanwhile in Italy, Miguel Veloso was the hero with a late equaliser for Hellas Verona in a 2-2 draw with Inter Milan.

Fernandes continues to inspire

Seleção midfielder Fernandes now had four goals in his last three games after winning and converting a first-half penalty to set Man United on their way to victory at Villa Park. Fernandes’ pirouette drew a foul from Ezri Konsa, although the decision was disputed by many pundits, before sending Pepe Reina the wrong way to open the scoring in the 27th minute.

Teenage sensation Mason Greenwood doubled United’s lead just before the break with an unstoppable finish from the edge of the box, and Fernandes found Paul Pogba from a corner to put the seal on the victory in the second half. The former Sporting man now has seven goals and six assists from his ten Premier League outings.

Mou unhappy; Costa puts Leeds on brink

There was less to cheer about for José Mourinho in an earlier kick-off in the English top flight as his Tottenham Hotspur played out a goalless draw at relegation-battlers Bournemouth. Speaking after the match, Moutinho told the BBC that “powerful people don’t like to be criticised, and you can take that how you want” in referencing another refereeing decision going against his side following Harry Kane’s unsuccessful claim for a penalty.

The battle for promotion to the Premier League is also nearing its climax and Leeds United look set to end a 16-year absence as they lead the Championship with four matches left to play. Portuguese forward Hélder Costa signed a permanent deal at Elland Road from Wolves earlier in the week and the former Benfica man celebrated with a goal and a highly influential display in their 5-0 victory over Stoke City.

Costa was the driving force in a quickfire Leeds double either side of half time, winning a penalty to help put his team in front just before the break and then scoring himself two minutes after the re-start. The Portuguese laid one another for Pablo Hernandez later on as Leeds secured a six-point cushion in the promotion places with just four matches remaining.

More goals: Veloso, Nani, Ivanildo, Oliveira, Paixão..

Miguel Veloso was the toast of Verona in an entertaining 2-2 draw with Inter in Serie A. The experienced Portugal international snatched a late draw for hosts Verona against the Nerazurri with an 86th-minute equaliser, to continue a strong performance from his side, who occupy 9th place in their first season back in the Italian top flight.

“It’s the group’s victory, of sacrifice, because the way we play requires a lot of physical effort,” said Veloso, who recently signed a new contract. “We gave even more during tough circumstances against a great team, so that’s why the celebrations were even more intense.

“My job is to help my teammates, as none of us can win by ourselves. I try to give my best contribution and I was fortunate to get the equaliser this evening, but we all earned this result.”

“Our big objective was to secure safety. Now our aim is to pick up as many points as possible, then we’ll see where we are at the end of the day. We started the season better than anyone expected, so now we want to end it on a high too.”

Also on the goals trail was veteran winger Nani, who marked his return to action on the resumption of MLS in the United States with an assist and a late winner for Orlando City against Inter Miami. Orlando fell behind early in the second half, but Nani’s superb cross set up Christopher Mueller to equalise and the Seleção legend snatched a last-gasp winner in the 96th minute.

Perhaps the most important goal of the week scored by a Portuguese was Ivanildo Fernandes’ 93rd-minute winner for Rizespor (3-2) against relegation rivals Kayserispor in Turkey. The former Sporting defender’s goal lifted Rizespor, who remarkably trailed 2-1 heading into injury time, above their opponents and out of the drop-zone, from which they now enjoy a 1-point gap.

Elsewhere, there was a goal for Nélson Oliveira in AEK’s 2-0 win over OFI in Greece, while Flávio Paixão scored as Lechia Gdansk reached the Polish cup via penalties after a 1-1 draw with Lech Poznan, and Tiago Rodrigues scored from the penalty spot to help CSKA Sofia to a 2-1 victory away at Lokomotiv Plovdiv in Bulgaria.

By Sean Gillen

@SeanGillen9