Portuguese Football in English
Porto kept the good vibes going at the Estádio do Dragão where they beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 in the Champions League. Diogo Costa saved a penalty on the stroke of half time in another strong performance from Portugal’s number one.
Mehdi Taremi continued his phenomenal form by setting up both second half goals, Zaidu Sanusi heading home in the 69th minute and Galeno beating Lucas Hrádecký to seal the deal late on.
It was a sharply contrasting night for Portugal’s two representatives in Champions League action tonight.
Sporting had a dream start when Francisco Trincão scored a goal inside the first minute at the Stade Vélodrome, before goalkeeper António Adán had surely the worse 10-minute spell in his distinguished career, two blunders giving away two cheap goals then getting sent off after a third mistake. The Lions never recovered and ended up losing 4-1 to Marseille.
FC Porto, on the other hand, scored two late goals to beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 at the Estádio do Dragão, Mehdi Taremi continuing his terrific form with two more assists. Together with the other result in Group B – Club Brugge beating Atletico Madrid – the Dragons are right back in the mix for qualification to the knockout stage.
Liga Bwin returned this weekend after the international break’s conclusion. League leaders Benfica’s 100% record came to an end as Vitória Guimarães held them to a 0-0 draw. Defending champions Porto gained ground in the process, overcoming another high flier in Braga.
Vizela, Famalicão and Rio Ave all arrested some poor form with vital victories to help the trio edge away from the relegation places.
One side who were perhaps expected to occupy said regions of the table are Casa Pia but they have confounded predictions under the guidance of manager Filipe Martins to sensationally occupy 4th place, doing so after defeating bottom club Marítimo. The league newcomers’ coach is in focus for this edition of the PortuGOAL Figure of the Week.
Marítimo remain rooted to the bottom of the Primeira Liga table without registering a single point after a controversial 71st minute penalty earned Casa Pia their fifth win of the season.
The hosts were hopeful of lifting themselves off the foot of the table in front of their home support and started well with Bruno Xadas’ opening goal, prior to Clayton’s equaliser.
Running at a ten-man Casa Pia in the second half, the hosts’ bemusement kicked in after Vitor Costa was also sent off in an anger-inducing penalty awarded to the visitors, later converted by Leonardo Lelo.
The full-back’s goal secured an important win for Casa Pia that takes the newly-promoted club all the way up to fourth, following Famalicão’s 4-0 hammering over Boavista and Portimonense’s inability to get anything from their trip to Vizela, losing 1-0.
Vitória Guimarães became the first team to stop Benfica winning a football match in 2022/23, deservedly holding the table-toppers to a goalless draw to end the Eagles’ 13-game winning run in all competitions.
In a hard-fought game neither goalkeeper was called into serious action. “I consider it a point won,” said Benfica coach Roger Schmidt, while Vitória manager Moreno praised his players and felt his team were denied the chance of earning all three points when the referee waved away strong penalty claims.
