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Goals round-up: Jota, Fernandes, Podence thriving as Portuguese shine in England; Silva rescues Frankfurt; Lage, Gelson on target in France; Vieirinha shows his class

Portuguese goalscorers were particularly prevalent in England this weekend, with Diogo Jota, Bruno Fernandes, Pedro Neto and Daniel Podence scoring important goals in the Premier League, while Lucas João and Domingos Quina contributed to wins in the Championship for Reading and Watford respectively.

Meanwhile, André Silva continues his goal trail in Germany with an important brace for Eintracht Frankfurt, and Mathias Lage and Gelson Martins found the net in Ligue 1. In Greece, veteran Vieirinha scored his first goal of the season with a trademark free-kick, to add to another strong showing from Portugal’s foreign contingent in leagues throughout the continent.

 

Fernandes ignites Manchester United comeback

Bruno Fernandes was once again the inspiration as Manchester United came from 2-0 down to snatch victory in stoppage time against Southampton in the Premier League. Fernandes scored the goal which halved the deficit on the hour, before substitute Edinson Cavani stuck twice for the Red Devils at St Mary’s Stadium.

Fernandes, who came into the match having scored five goals in his last three matches for United, adjusted himself well to take a touch and convert Cavani’s cross in the 60th minute to spark the visitors into a comeback. The win sees The Red Devils move to within five points of leaders Tottenham Hotspur with a game in-hand on Jose Mourinho’s side.

“Keep winning” - Bruno

The former Sporting man could arguably have been awarded an assist for Cavani’s first when his wayward deflected shot was diverted in by the Uruguayan, but Fernandes was forced to settle for just the goal. “I'm happy to help the team. Of course the assist is not really an assist [laughs] but I will take it!” he said after the match. 

“I'm happy because we win. Of course every player wants to score. The point now is to look [out] for each other. We need to keep winning because we want to be at the top of the table and we have to fight.

“This game was against a tough opponent,” he added. “I think if you take out the big clubs, as you say in England, I think Southampton is the team that can play a lot of quality football in the Premier League. They have quality, they have runners, they fight. They have such good quality and it's difficult to beat them. I think the sacrifice we made in the second half and the way we ran and helped each other was fantastic. We played well in the first half but we conceded goals from set-plays and we will work on that as we are not happy with that.”

 

Neto, Podence fire Wolves to Arsenal win

Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium in the last match of the weekend on Sunday evening, with Portuguese duo Pedro Neto and Daniel Podence proving the match-winners for Nuno Espírito Santo’s side on what was a mixed evening of emotions for the visitors.

Former Benfica man Raul Jimenez was substituted early on in the game with what has since been confirmed as a fractured skull following a collision with Arsenal’s fellow ex Eagle David Luiz. The match was stopped for ten minutes while Jimenez was carefully removed from the field and quickly transported to hospital, with the Mexican’s condition clearly concerning Nuno on the touchline.

Wolves dealt well with the incident and took the lead when Neto reacted quickest to score from the rebound on 27 minutes after Dendoncker’s header had struck the crossbar. Arsenal levelled just a few minutes later through Gabriel, but Daniel Podence restored Wolves’ advantage almost immediately when he capped off a swift Wolves counter attack with a wonderful piece of skill and finish for what would prove the winner.

Nuno: “I’m very proud”

Nuno’s side held out for a goalless second half and a precious three points, and the Portuguese boss admitted he was proud of the way his players coped in difficult circumstances. “Amazing. I’m very proud today, very proud,” he said. “I always am, but especially today because this team showed heart today, a will, a belief, the way they run, they work, and it was really good to see.

“It (Jimenez’s injury) affected the players, but they were able to overcome that moment and we played good. When things aren’t going ok, the best way to focus is to forget about what happened, and today the team performed very well.

“Arsenal is a massive club with such a talented squad, so it’s huge for us, but momentum is not about this, we have to search for this. Football is a game of ups and downs and we cannot always trust that things will happen, we have to make them happen ourselves.”

Jota scores again for Liverpool

The first Portuguese goal of the Premier League weekend was scored by Diogo Jota, who continued his excellent form for new club Liverpool with their goal in a 1-1 draw at Brighton on Saturday lunchtime. Jota put Liverpool ahead on the hour with a smart finish on his right foot, but Liverpool were pegged back in stoppage time when Brighton’s Pascal Gross scored from the penalty spot.

Jota, who arrived during the transfer window from Wolves in a deal worth around €50m, has now scored nine goals from his first 14 appearances for the Reds. Having scored seven goals in the Premier League for Nuno’s Wolves last term, Jota is already on five goals for the champions from just eight matches.

Silva double in “crazy game”

André Silva scored twice as Eintracht Frankfurt came from two goals down to lead at Union Berlin, before conceding a late equaliser in a six-goal thriller in the Bundesliga. The Portugal forward score two typical poachers goals in the first half to recover a two-goal deficit, with the first a routine finish on his left foot and the second a deft header from a set-piece.

Former Sporting striker Bas Dost then put Frankfurt ahead late on in the game but Max Kruse struck on 82 minutes to give Union a share of the spoils in a 3-3 draw. For Silva, his double puts him on seven Bundesliga goals from just nine appearances.

“It was a crazy game,” Silva told the media after the final whistle. “Very emotional, that roller coaster ride of emotions. It's a shame that we gave up the win. We gave everything to win this game. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. We are sad.”

 

Lage, Gelson on target in France

Mathias Lage made it two goals in three matches in Ligue 1 for Angers with a superb opener in their 3-1 victory at Lens on Sunday afternoon. Lage, who scored in the win at Nimes before the international break, put Angers ahead with a long-range effort after 22 minutes at Lens to help Angers leapfrog their opponents into 8th place in the table.

Elsewhere, in-form Monaco secured a fourth straight victory and stay in 5th as Gelson Martins scored in a 3-0 home win over Nimes. Gelson’s goal, scored from close range, was his second of the season for Monaco, who were without on-loan Benfica midfielder Florentino Luís. André Villas-Boas’ Marseille beat Nantes 3-1 in what was also a fourth consecutive league win.

The rest: Vieirinha, João among the goals

Vieirinha scored his first goal in the Greek Super League since January with a vintage free-kick in PAOK’s 2-0 win at Lamia on Sunday. The 34-year-old, who was thought to be leaving the club towards the end of the summer, found the bottom corner from just outside the area on what was his first league start of the season. Elsewhere in Greece, forward Sturgeon got the opener in OFI’s 2-1 victory against Pas Giannina.

In the English Championship, there were goals for Lucas João, who netted his 9th goal of the league season as Reading beat Bristol City 3-1, as well as Domingos Quina, with the Watford midfielder getting his first goal of the season in a 4-1 win over Preston North End to help the Hornets up to 3rd.

The MLS Cup is headed towards its final stage and Pedro Santos was the key man as Columbus Crew booked their place in the last four. The midfielder put his team ahead in extra time against Nashville SC, leading to a 2-0 win for the Crew. A surprise result in Italy saw Verona 2-0 winners away against Atalanta in Serie A. Veteran Portuguese midfielder Miguel Veloso came off the bench to put the visitors ahead from the penalty spot, scoring his first goal of the campaign for the Gialloblu.

There were more important Portuguese goals in some of Europe’s less glamorous leagues. In Bulgaria, defender Josué Sá scored the winner for Ludogorets in a 2-1 win over Botev Vratsa, for whom former Académica midfielder Pedro Lagoa also found the net. Also in the Bulgarian top flight, Dinis Almeida scored for Lokomotiv Plovdiv as they hammered city rivals Botev Plovdiv 6-0.

Portugal U21 forward Dany Mota scored the only goal as Monza beat Reggina 1-0 in Serie B on Saturday, while in Switzerland Cristian Ponde came off the bench to snatch a draw for Grasshopper (1-1) at Wil in the Challenge League. Finally, veteran Marco Paixão scored two as Altay beat Bursaspor 3-0 in the Turkish second tier, while former Vitória Setúbal, Sheffield Wednesday and Vitoria Guimaraes defender Frederico Venâncio got his first goal in the Spanish Segunda Division as Lugo earned a 2-2 draw at Malaga.

By Sean Gillen

@SeanGillen9