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Portuguese Abroad goals round-up: Jota stars as Liverpool hammer United; Leão scores again in Italy; Beto’s last-gasp equaliser; Eder off the mark for Al Raed; Gelson, Nani on target

Another wide range of Portuguese scorers this weekend saw goals in the top flight in England, Italy, Spain and France, with Diogo Jota’s early strike in Liverpool’s 5-0 demolition of Manchester United at Old Trafford the biggest story.

Gonçalo Guedes, Rafael Leão, Gelson Martins and Nani were also among the goals, while Luso players hit the back of the net in Greece, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Armenia, Luxembourg, UAE, Azerbaijan and Lithuania as the goal count exceeded 20.

Liverpool’s 5-0 victory over fierce rivals Manchester United sent shockwaves through English football on Sunday due to the ease with which the visitors dominated. Liverpool were 4-0 up at the break and Diogo Jota once again proved United’s nemesis, having also scored in a 4-2 win at the Theatre of Dreams in May.

Jota’s goal was a tap-in from close range as the Reds cut their opponents apart at will, and the former Porto man now has four goals in seven appearances against United. Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo both started for United; their most notable moments being Fernandes wasting a good early chance with the match goalless and Ronaldo having a brilliant finish harshly disallowed for offside which would have made it 5-1.

“It’s hard to dream of such a good thing, to be honest!” Jota said after the match. “We always expect a tighter game, but in terms of the result, I think we were outstanding today, especially until 2-0 in the first 15 minutes – we were almost perfect.

“After that, we conceded a little bit, counter-attacks, we started losing the ball. But in the end, it’s a historical result and one for the fans to remember for a while.”

United, meanwhile, are in turmoil it is appears increasingly likely there will be a change of coach in the coming weeks. Under-pressure boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, should he remain in charge, faces a daunting fixture list which resumes with a trip to Nuno Espírito Santo’s Tottenham Hotspur next Saturday.

Related artiicle: Man of the Match Guedes stars as Valencia rescue "impossible point"

Beto, Leão on the mark again in Italy

Udinese striker Beto is one of the in-form players in Italy at the moment after scoring in his third consecutive league game to earn the Bianconeri a 1-1 draw at Atalanta. The former Portimonense man leapt high to glance in a corner on 94 minutes at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo on Sunday lunchtime.

After the match, Beto admitted that despite his form the team’s results are more important. “I'm happy but I don't like the fact of the three consecutive draws, we worked to win this match but we didn't, we will work to win against Verona,” he said. 

“I have to improve my heading but today I scored a good goal on a great pass from Samardzic. The draw was very important because we faced a team that plays the Champions League, we conceded the goal but we continued to play and got the draw at the last moment.

“I want to win with the team, I want to do better and better. Today we didn't get three points, but away from our fans it's always more difficult.”

Another Portuguese catching the eye in Serie A this season is Rafael Leão, who scored again in the Rossoneri’s thrilling 4-2 win at Bologna on Saturday. Leão burst down the left channel to latch onto a pass from Zlatan Ibrahimovic before blasting the ball in from a tight angle with the aid of a deflection, scoring his fourth league goal of the season to put Milan 1-0 up.

Bologna spent most of the game with a numerical disadvantage through two red cards received after 20 and 58 minutes. Despite going down to nine men with over half an hour to play at 2-2, the hosts managed to hold Milan for over 25 minutes before late goals from Ismael Bennacer (84’) and Ibrahimovic (90’) saw Milan move level with Napoli at the top of the table.

Eder, Fabio Martins off the mark in Middle East as Gelson strikes in France

Eder scored his first goal for new Saudi club Al Raed on Saturday, with what looked a crucial late equaliser against Leonardo Jardim’s Al-Hilal. Eder found himself in the prime striker’s position to convert Ahmed Zain’s cross with five minutes remaining to make it 2-2, but a Bafetimbi Gomis winner deep into stoppage time gave Jardim’s side the points.

There was also a first goal for Fábio Martins for Al Wahda in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday. The 28-year-old midfielder got the third goal with a neat finish to put his team 3-1 up having been behind, on what was his second start for Al Wahda since moving from Braga last month.

Gelson Martins scored for the first time since the opening day of the season as Monaco beat Montpellier 3-1 in Ligue 1. Gelson was the scorer for the opening goal of the French top flight season back in August, and on Sunday the former Sporting and Atletico Madrid man started and finished the move to put his side 3-0 up.

The rest: Nani scores in United States as Dyego Sousa hits hat-trick in Spain

Portugal legend Nani ended somewhat of a goal drought in MLS by scoring his first goal in eleven matches for Orlando City against New England Revolution on Sunday. The veteran winger headed in a cross on 38 minutes to put Orlando ahead, as his side look to secure a play-off position in the Eastern Conference and currently hold a four-point advantage.

Dyego Sousa had a remarkable game in the Spanish Segunda Division this weekend, scoring a hat-trick and supplying one assist in Almeria’s 4-1 win at Mirandes. The Brazilian-born striker showed sharp link-up play and finishing in scoring his goals and providing the pass for former Manchester United prospect Arnau Puigmal to get the other for table-toppers Almeria.

Bruno Gama marked his 100th appearance for Aris in Greece with a penalty in their 5-1 win over Panaitolikos. Meanwhile in Poland, there was a goal for João Amaral as leaders Lech Poznan beat Wisla Plock 4-1 on Friday evening, and on the same night Luís Machado scored in Radomiak Radom’s 3-1 win over Gornik Lezna. The following day, ex Porto defender Diogo Verdasca scored as Slask Wroclaw hammered Wisla Krakow 5-0 away from home in the Ekstraklasa.

In the Swiss Challenge League, Daniel Correia opened the scoring in FC Thun’s 2-0 win at Aarau. António Gomes scored as UT Petange went down 3-2 at Progres Niederkorn in Luxembourg, while the trend of losing goalscorers continued: Ivo Braz registered in Dziugas Telsiai’s Lithuanian league defeat to Dainava; Aldair Neto scored in vain as Keshla were beaten 3-2 by Qabala in Azerbaijan and José Embaló’s goal could not prevent a 2-1 defeat for Alashkert to Ararat in Armenia.

By Sean Gillen

@SeanGillen9