Diogo Jota has officially arrived in the English Premier League. The Portuguese attacker followed up his midweek winner against Chelsea by scoring the first and creating the second as Wolverhampton Wanderers won 2-1 at Newcastle to give Nuno Espírito Santo back-to-back wins in the English top flight.
Elsewhere, there were goals for Portuguese in Italy, where Bruno Alves scored with a stunning free-kick, as well as Bulgaria, Cyprus, Poland and the English and Spanish second tiers. It was also an important weekend for Portuguese bosses Miguel Cardoso and Pedro Caixinha, while Manuel Fernandes, João Cancelo and Raphaël Guerreiro were among the assist-makers.
Jota inspires Wolves again
For former Porto midfielder Jota this week has been an important one in his adaptation to the Premier League. The 22-year-old scored 17 league goals in the Championship last season to help Wolves to promotion, but it was not until the midweek match with Chelsea at Molineux that Jota found the net for the first time in the Premier League.
Fresh from opening his account against the Blues, Jota wasted little time in scoring his first away goal in the league this season when his neat control and finish saw him put Wolves 1-0 up after 17 minutes at St James’ Park on Sunday afternoon. With the scores level at 1-1 deep into injury time, it was the Portuguese’s drive down the left and powerful shot that was parried into the path of Matt Doherty to give Wolves all three points.
“It was not so good, honestly and we’ve spoken to each other,” a brutally forthright Nuno Espírito Santo said after the match, having seen his side overcome a Newcastle side reduced to ten men during the second half. “We must be proud because one thing we didn’t abandon was that we stayed with the game. We stayed with our attacks, we stayed compact, we stayed organised like a team.
“We win but the win cannot disguise things we must improve. No matter who we play, we always must maintain our standards, but we are improving, we are managing better and we stayed with our tasks.
“Back-to-back wins is very difficult to achieve in such a hard competition like the Premier League, but we did it. After something so good like we achieved Wednesday, you can get distracted, but we didn’t so I’m very proud.”
Cédric absent; Dalot impressed again
Southampton’s first match under new coach Ralph Hasenhüttl saw Portugal full-back Cédric Soares left out of the Austrian’s squad for a trip to Cardiff City. With no indication as of yet that Cédric is injured, it appears the new boss opted against selecting him for tactical reasons. The Saints started Hasenhüttl’s reign with a 1-0 defeat.
Elsewhere in the Premier League, José Mourinho again selected Diogo Dalot at right-back as Manchester United overcame Fulham 4-1 at Old Trafford. The former Porto defender again impressed for the Red Devils, with Mourinho saying after the match he was pleased with “the result, the performance, the spirit, the fans, my players, everything,” and claiming that Dalot “is a player with fantastic potential.” Marco Silva’s Everton host Watford at Goodison Park on Monday evening.
Alves cracker; Cancelo vital for Juve
One of the goals of the weekend came in Italy, where veteran Portugal defender Bruno Alves earned Parma a point against Chievo with a stunning free-kick. Parma had trailed 1-0 at home during the second half, until Alves levelled the scores by powering an unstoppable curling shot into the top corner. The 37-year-old was later replaced with an injury.
Juventus started the weekend’s action in Italy by beating Inter 1-0 in Turin on Friday night. Both Cristiano Ronaldo and João Cancelo started for the Bianconeri, with Cancelo instrumental in the winning goal. The Portugal defender broke down the left side and cut onto his right foot to deliver a perfect cross for Mario Mandzukic to head home.
“Tonight was an important victory,” Cancelo said after the match, having beaten his old club. “Inter are a great team and a direct rival for the Scudetto. Inter was a very important team for me, they helped me to grow a lot. Now I’m wearing the Juventus shirt and I’m only thinking of the Bianconeri, but Inter have remained in my heart.”
Cardoso’s Celta win; Oliveira’s costly OG
Over to Spain and Celta Vigo boss Miguel Cardoso has two wins in a row in La Liga after his side recorded an impressive 3-2 victory at Villarreal on Saturday evening. Celta took the lead just before half time and two further goals in the first five minutes of the second half put the visitors 3-0 up. Villarreal rallied thanks to a late quickfire brace from Carlos Bacca, but Celta held on for another three points.
“The team had an incredible attitude,” Cardoso said. “We more than deserved this. Today I told the players that if each one of them was at its best, the team would enjoy it, and that’s how it was.”
Enjoying his weekend less was Eibar’s Paulo Oliveira, who took part in their remarkable 4-4 draw with Levante. Eibar led 4-2 with fifteen minutes to play when an unfortunate attempt to block a shot saw former Sporting defender Oliveira slice the ball back and into his own goal, and Levante scored again in stoppage time to claim a share of the spoils.
Fernandes, Guerreiro, Podence
Manuel Fernandes was a second-half introduction for Lokomotiv Moscow as the Russian champions came from behind to beat Orenburg 2-1 in the capital. Eder started for the home side, who trailed to an 8th minute goal until Fernandes’ outstanding free-kick delivery was converted by Jefferson Farfan on 76 minutes. The Peruvian added a second five minutes later to secure victory for Lokomotiv.
A similar story in Germany, where leaders Borussia Dortmund maintained their excellent run of results with a 2-1 win at arch rivals Schalke. The game was level at 1-1 when Dortmund brought on Portugal’s Raphaël Guerreiro, and the left-back played the decisive ball to put Jadon Sancho through for the young Englishman to score a vital winner. In the German second tier, goalkeeper Daniel Fernandes gave away a penalty which was converted in Darmstadt’s 1-1 draw with Ingolstadt.
In Greece, Pedro Martins’ Olympiakos were held to a 1-1 draw at Xanthi. Although the visitors would have aimed to win the match after pulling level fifteen minutes from time, their cause was not aided by Daniel Podence receiving a red card for two bookings shortly after their equaliser. “We paid for not finishing our moves” said Martins, who also criticised the refereeing and his team for being thrown off their game by the opposition.
The weekend’s big match in Poland saw Ricardo Sá Pinto’s Legia Warsaw travel to surprise league leaders Lechia Gdansk. Sá Pinto’s men trailed Gdansk by five points heading into the showdown and it remained that way after a 0-0 draw. Legia managed to keep out Gdansk’s leading scorer Flávio Paixão, who was joined in the home side by João Nunes. Former Sporting coach Sá Pinto selected André Martins and Cafú in his line-up.
Goals
Staying in Poland, there was another sensational Portuguese goal as João Amaral made the breakthrough for Lech Poznan in their 2-0 win over Slask Wroclaw. With the game goalless heading into the final 15 minutes, former Vitória Setúbal midfielder Amaral dribbled from the halfway line before rifling a shot into the corner from distance. Poznan made the game safe with a second in injury time.
Sheffield Wednesday forward Lucas João has three goals in two games in the English Championship, after following up his strike in last weekend’s defeat at Blackburn with a brace as Wednesday drew 2-2 with Rotherham. Elsewhere, Tiago Rodrigues was the match-winner for CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria with the only goal in their victory at Vereya, while veteran Nuno Morais scored a penalty as Cyrpiots APOEL beat Nea Salamis 4-0, and Luis Gustavo’s spot-kick gave Reus Deportiu a 1-0 win at Alcorcon in the Spanish Segunda.
Portuguese bosses
Pedro Caixinha is through to the final of the Mexican Liga MX Apertura final after his Cruz Azul side squeezed past Monterrey. Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Caixinha’s side won the return game 1-0 on Saturday evening and progress due to their superior standing during the league stage of the campaign. Cruz Azul will play America in the two-legged final, after America hammered Pumas 6-1 on Sunday evening after a 1-1 draw in the opening encounter.
Paulo Fonseca’s Shakhtar Donetsk warmed up for their crucial Champions League match against Lyon with a routine 3-0 win over Mariupol on Friday night. Shakhtar scored three second half goals to go into the winter break in good form and go onto Wednesday’s must-win match with Lyon full of confidence. “We must produce a perfect performance to make it further,” Fonseca told reporters.
Finally, Antonio Conceição’s CFR Cluj were denied a comeback from two goals down when they missed a stoppage-time penalty to draw a home against Gaz Metan. Cluj were 2-0 down after just over half an hour, with former Braga midfielder Carlos Fortes assisting a goal for the visitors, but Tony Conceição’s men were level at 2-2 when Argentine Culio missed his 95th-minute spot kick.
Performer of the Week: Bruno Alves (Parma)
A close-run contest this week, with Diogo Jota’s impact for Wolves and a strong victory for Miguel Cardoso coming into consideration. But how often this season will we see a 37-year-old centre-back score a free kick like that?!
By Sean Gillen
