Everton manager Marco Silva praised the performance of André Gomes after the Portugal midfielder made an impressive debut in the Toffees’ 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday.
Meanwhile, this weekend saw goals for Cristiano Ronaldo and Bernardo Silva in Italy and England respectively, while José Mourinho was denied what would have been a priceless victory as Manchester United conceded a 96th-minute equaliser against his former club Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
For ex-Sporting coach Silva, it was a hugely satisfying three points at Goodison Park as two very late goals scored by substitutes Dominic Calvert-Lewin (87’) and Cenk Tosun (89’) earned Everton the win. Calvert-Lewin had only been on the pitch a few minutes, having replaced André Gomes, who received a standing ovation on his debut.
“He did well, like we expected,” Silva said of the former Benfica man. “He is working really hard and well. He is a player who can give us different things in that zone.”
Asked about his match-winning substitutions, Silva added: “Sometimes you make changes and everything goes well, like this afternoon. The other times you try and it’s not the same but in that moment it was important for us, we changed the formation with the substitutes and they did well.”
“An awful result” - Mourinho
Elsewhere in the Premier League, José Mourinho insisted his side deserved better after coming from behind to lead Chelsea 2-1 at Stamford Bridge, before conceding a last-gasp equaliser. “We were the best team on the pitch,” he said. “If you say before the match one point at Stamford Bridge, it's always a good result because it's so difficult for teams to win here. But after the game, the way the game was, it's an awful result for us and a phenomenal result for them.”
Mourinho, who was visibly affected by some unsavoury chants from the Chelsea fans, expressed doubt over the amount of added time given by the referee, while also assuring that a touchline scuffle with a member of the Chelsea staff who had goaded the United bench had been cleared up.
“What happened was with Sarri's assistant and Sarri was the first one to come to me to say he would resolve the problem internally. His assistant came to me in Sarri's office to apologise to me. I immediately said that, if he really feels it that way and you want to apologise, of course I accept the apology and forget it because I also made a lot of mistakes in my career, so I'm not going to kill him because of one.”
While the result leaves United in mid-table, local rivals Manchester City continue to lead the Premier League following a 5-0 win over Burnley. Bernardo Silva got the second with a cool left-footed finish from inside the box. Elsewhere, Wolves’ unbeaten home record came to an end with a 2-0 loss to Watford. “We must bounce back. We have to analyse really carefully what we did today and this week we must work harder,” said Wolves boss Nuno Espírito Santo.
Ronaldo heads to Manchester in form
In Italy, Ronaldo warmed up for Juventus’ midweek Champions League trip to Old Trafford against his former club Manchester United with a poacher’s goal from close-range, as the Bianconeri drew with Genoa. The result saw Juve, who also had João Cancelo in the line-up, lose their 100% start to the Serie A season, with manager Massimiliano Allegri saying his side “took our foot off the gas” after Ronaldo’s opener.
Barcelona are back on top of La Liga after the Spanish champions beat Sevilla 4-2 at Camp Nou on Saturday evening. Nélson Semedo played at right-back for Barca, while Daniel Carriço and André Silva both started for the visitors, with Silva replaced late on and telling reporters he felt his side were “too relaxed” in the first half. Meanwhile, Getafe recorded an impressive 2-1 win at Rayo Vallecano, with Vitorino Antunes assisting a goal and taking to social media after the match to object to criticisms of his side.
Veteran Portugal goalkeeper Beto was a hero for Goztepe in Turkey, as the 36-year-old added to his penalty-saving reputation by stopping a spot-kick from Besitkas striker Oguzhan Oyakup. Beto’s side, which also included ex Porto midfielder André Castro, ran out 2-0 winners over the Istanbul giants, for whom Ricardo Quaresma was a second-half substitute, on Sunday afternoon.
Pereira’s lead cut
With four rounds of matches left to play in the Chinese CSL, a perhaps pivotal weekend saw table-toppers Shanghai SIPG’s lead cut to just two points after they were held to a 0-0 draw at Jiangsu Suning. Shanghai boss Vítor Pereira was serving a touchline ban, which will extend to his side’s trip to defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande on November 3rd. Ricardo Vaz Tê scored to help relegation battlers Henan Jianye to a vital 2-0 win over Guangzhou R&F.
Lille continue to be a surprise package in France thanks to a 2-1 win at Dijon, with José Fonte in defence, which saw them maintain their position in 2nd place in Ligue 1. Montpellier moved up to 3rd after a 2-0 victory over Bordeaux with Pedro Mendes in their backline, while Monaco’s first match since parting ways with Leonardo Jardim resulted in a 2-1 loss to Saint-Etienne. In the Dutch Eredivisie, Lisandro Semedo missed a penalty for Fortuna Sittard before being subbed ahead of their late win over De Graafschap.
Portuguese bosses
Pedro Caixinha’s Cruz Azul no longer lead the Mexican Liga MX after a 2-0 loss at Queretaro saw them slip to second place. In similar tales of Portuguese disappointment, Ricardo Sá Pinto’s Legia Warsaw relinquished top spot in Poland after blowing a 2-0 lead to draw 3-3 with Wisla Krakow, while Pedro Martins is feeling the heat in Greece as his Olympiakos side lost 1-0 at OFI to make it four matches without victory.
There was, however, plenty of good news for Portuguese tacticians this weekend. Toni Conceição’s CFR Cluj went top of the standings in Romania, where ex-Portugal U21 midfielder Yazalde got on the scoresheet for Gaz Metan this weekend, while Paulo Fonseca’s Shakhtar Donetsk remain at the summit in Ukraine, and there were first wins of the season for Paulo Sérgio’s Sanat Naft in Iran and Jorge Costa’s Mumbai City in India, where Paulo Machado helped Costa’s side to victory over Pune City.
By Sean Gillen
