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Portuguese Abroad goals round-up: Paciência opens Schalke account; Guedes Golaço in Spain; Silva on-target in Bundesliga; Gama keeps Aris top in Greece; Nani, Santos shine Stateside

While Bruno Fernandes took most of the headlines among the Portuguese abroad contingent this weekend, there were of course many other Luso stars making the difference with goals for their sides at pivotal moments across the continent.

There was a first Schalke goal for Gonçalo Paciência to earn his new side a point in Germany’s Bundesliga, where André Silva continues to flourish at Frankfurt. Elsewhere, Gonçalo Guedes produced the most spectacular strike of the weekend for Valencia and Bruno Gama’s winning goal ensured Aris remain the early pace-setters in Greece, while Nani and Pedro Santos were on target in MLS.

Schalke must think big – Paciência

Gonçalo Paciência came off the bench to score his first Schalke goal and earn his side a 1-1 draw against Union Berlin in the Bundesliga on Sunday. Paciência, who joined the club in August from Eintracht Frankfurt, entered the action on 57 minutes just after hosts Schalke had fallen behind and scored with an expert header to equaliser twelve minutes later.

The result lifts Schalke from the bottom of the table with their first point on matchday four of the season, but the Portuguese striker was adamant that the Die Königsblauen must aim for high standards moving forward after a dreadful start to the campaign in Germany.

“If we think that the draw is a bad thing it’s because we have to think big as we’re a big club,” said the former Porto man. “But we have to at least take the positive things in the game. We started the season badly, but now I think we are more compact and we’re in good shape.”

 

Silva penalty earns Frankfurt draw

Paciência’s former club Frankfurt are still undefeated after also drawing 1-1 away against Koln, with Portuguese international André Silva scoring his side’s goal from the penalty spot. Silva played a part in the move which led to the penalty award, flicking the ball on to Bas Dost ahead of Daichi Kamada being brought down in the area.

Silva stepped up and beat Koln goalkeeper Timo Horn with a low placed shot into the bottom right corner for his 11th goal in 14 games for the club. Ondrej Duda struck in the second half for Koln to earn the home side a share of the points, meaning Frankfurt sit in 4th place ahead of next weekend’s trip to Bayern Munich.

 

“We didn’t deserve the defeat” - Guedes Golaço in vain

Gonçalo Guedes produced a moment of brilliance in Valencia’s match with Villarreal in Spain, but the goal was of little influence on the result as Los Ches continue to flounder with another defeat. With his side 1-0 down, Guedes levelled the score on 37 minutes when he drove inside and dispatched an unstoppable shot from distance on his right foot.

However, Valencia conceded midway through the second half to succumb to a second consecutive defeat and make it just four points taken from their last five matches. The club have been engulfed in negativity since the close of the transfer window having failed to strengthen the squad following a raft of key departures.

“It was a good goal, but the main thing is for the team to get the three points that we did not achieve it so I’m sad,” Guedes told reporters after the match. We played a good game, we improved a lot compared to the previous match. We did not deserve the defeat and we must continue in this line because I think we did a lot of good things.”

 

Pedro Santos, Nani shine in MLS

Pedro Santos continued his excellent goalscoring form in the United States with another classy finish to help Columbus Crew on their way to a 3-1 win over New York City on Sunday evening. Santos’ left-footed strike put The Crew 2-0 up on 50 minutes and was the former Braga man’s 7th goal in his last 11 appearances in MLS.

Portugal legend Nani was moments away from enjoying a winning goal for Orlando City as they travelled to New York City. Nani’s penalty ten minutes into the second half had Orlando 1-0 up deep into injury time at the end of the game, but Brian White scored in the 95th minute to give the Red Bulls a draw.

 

The rest: Gama keeps Aris top in Greece

Aris are the surprise early leaders in Greece’s Super League thanks to Bruno Gama’s goal in a 1-0 win over Apollon Smirnis on Saturday. Gama’s well-struck shot found the bottom corner ten minutes before the break to maintain Aris’ three-point lead over Olympiacos at the top of the table, although the champions have played a game fewer.

Also in Greece, former Belenenses midfielder Sturgeon scored the opening goal for OFI in their 2-2 draw with Panathinaikos. In Switzerland, there were goals for Nuno da Silva, who helped FC Thun to a 2-0 win at Chiasso while Abubakar Asumah scored the winner for Kriens against Wil in the Challenge League.

Finally, Faro-born defender Pedro Eugénio scored for Zhetsyu in Kazakhstan in a 4-2 defeat to leaders Kairat, while in Latvia ex Cinfães forward Jorge Teixeira scored a brace for Valmiera in their 5-0 win over Tukums.

By Sean Gillen

@SeanGillen9