• Benfica
• FC Porto,
• Rio Ave
• Nacional
• Fransergio
• Gian-Luca Waldschmidt

Benfica have gone five points clear at the top of the table following FC Porto’s 2-2 draw against Sporting, enabling them to take advantage with a 3-0 win away to Rio Ave, this Sunday.

A brace from Gian-Luca Waldschmidt helped Jorge Jesus’ team on their way to their fourth league victory of the season, distancing themselves from second-placed Porto, currently on seven points from a possible 12, and city rivals Sporting who are also on seven points but have a game in hand.

Elsewhere, Sporting de Braga were able to make it back-to-back wins in their reception of Nacional at the Estádio Municipal, defeating the newly-promoted side 2-1. PortuGOAL has more of the first ‘Clássico’ weekend of the season.

• Primeira Liga,
• Liga NOS,
• Sporting,
• Classico,
• Luciano Vietto
• Jesus Corona
• Nuno Santos
• Matheus Uribe

Sporting 2-2 FC Porto

Sporting and FC Porto were forced to share the spoils in the first ‘Clássico’ of the Primeira Liga season after Luciano Vietto’s 87th-minute finish secured a 2-2 draw for the Lions at the Alvalade, this Saturday.

The hosts stormed into the encounter by taking an early lead through Nuno Santos, prior to Matheus Uribe’s equaliser for the Dragons in the 25th minute.

Jesús Corona turned the game on its head for Sérgio Conceição’s men on the brink of half-time, but Porto would be unable to protect their lead en route to full time, succumbing to a late equaliser from Vietto that divides the points up for grabs in Lisbon.

It is one of only two clubs outside the three traditional powerhouses to have won the Portuguese league, however, in recent years, Boavista has often languished near the bottom of the table, struggling to even avoid relegation.

Things could be about to change. During this past transfer window, aided by the impending investment by businessman Gerard Lopez, the Porto-based club made a number of high-profile signings that have many believing they could challenge the Big Three once again.

Rui Miguel Martins looks at the new project taking shape at Boavista. 

They are an integral part of the game, but it needs a special personality to become a football referee, especially in Portugal. Subject to constant abuse by tens of thousands of supporters in the stadium, and millions more watching on television, you certainly need a thick skin to take up a career as the rule enforcer in a sport that brings out such primal emotions among the protagonists and the viewers.

That has not stopped a number of Portuguese arbitros from making a name for themselves, however, both on the pitch and subsequently in their careers after retiring the whistle.