• Benfica
• Primeira Liga,
• Sporting,
• FC Porto,
• Jorge Jesus
• Sergio Conceicao
• Everton Cebolinha
• Matheus Uribe

Benfica 1-1 FC Porto

Sporting have been left just two points away from clinching the Primeira Liga title after Benfica and second-placed FC Porto played out a dramatic 1-1 draw at the Estádio da Luz, this evening.

Everton Cebolinha broke the deadlock for Benfica in Lisbon in a game the hosts needed to win to strengthen their chances of automatic Champions League qualification, sitting four points behind their opponents before kick-off.

A second-half strike for Matheus Uribe levelled the game for Porto, in search of a win to claw themselves back into the title race, before late drama with a disallowed Pizzi goal that had threatened to undermine the Dragons’ season.

The 1-1 draw, leaving Porto eight points behind table-topping Sporting, all but kills their hopes of becoming back-to-back champions, meanwhile Benfica’s ambitions of climbing up to second also take a big hit with just three league games of the season to go.

• Primeira Liga,
• Sporting,
• Rio Ave
• Paulinho
• Pedro Goncalves

Rio Ave 0-2 Sporting

Sporting have taken themselves one step closer to winning the Primeira Liga title after qualifying for next season’s edition of the UEFA Champions League, three games away from the end of the season, with a 2-0 away win versus Rio Ave, this Wednesday.

The table-topping Lions were keen to put the pressure on FC Porto ahead of their Clássico clash against Benfica, scheduled for tomorrow night, as they bid to defeat Rio Ave in Vila do Conde.

Pedro Gonçalves steered his club in the right direction from the spot before Paulinho stole the limelight with a storming second goal for the title hopefuls, securing a 2-0 victory away from home.

With four rounds of matches remaining in Portugal’s top flight, excitement is at fever pitch with a potential new champion in the offing after 18 years of a Porto/Benfica duopoly in the Liga NOS.

No less intense is the battle to avoid relegation with as many as 10 clubs still unable to rest easy as regards their berth in the upper echelons of Portuguese football next season. PortuGOAL looks at the remaining fixtures of the 2020/21 season and what is at stake for whom. 

The Liga NOS season continues to hurtle towards its resolution at break-neck speed as the 30th round of matches concluded yesterday. The week’s action began on Thursday night with Marítimo upsetting Braga in Madeira.

The following day Paços Ferreira and Vitória Guimarães both arrested some poor recent form, triumphing over Belenenses SAD and Moreirense respectively.

Porto and Benfica kept up the title pressure with wins but it was Sporting who continued to tighten their grasp on the championship. A devastating cameo from super sub Jovane Cabral was the catalyst to a hard-fought win over Nacional last night and the Cape Verdean is the PortuGOAL Figure of the Week.