Round 16 of Liga NOS may have had a familiar feel to it in terms of results as all the usual suspects picked up 3 points, but each were made to work hard to so. Benfica left it late to come back against Aves, Sporting overcame a virus-hit Vitória Setúbal and Braga also needed to recover from a setback to beat Tondela.

This edition of Figure of the Week though focuses on Porto’s Jesús Corona, who was instrumental in helping his side rally to beat Moreirense away from home, the latest in a long line of impressive performances from the Mexican international.

• Benfica
• Sporting,
• FC Porto,
• Bruno Fernandes
• Famalicao

Benfica have kept up their winning start to the new decade with a late turnaround at home to Desportivo das Aves, this Friday, keeping them four points clear with a 2-1 victory.

The visitors found themselves in front before a Pizzi penalty and late strike from André Almeida saved the day for Bruno Lage’s men, ahead of FC Porto’s trip to Moreira de Cônegos. Sergio Conceição’s side had their work cut out versus Moreirense, producing a free-scoring 4-2 win in response to Benfica’s late heroics.

Elsewhere, a 1-0 win for Famalicão away to Boavista saw them hold onto third place for a further week, meanwhile Sporting defeated a virus-stricken Vitória de Setúbal side 3-1 to complete a full-house of victories for the current Primeira Liga top four. Here are all the happenings at the summit of the table.

The first Liga NOS round of 2020 saw an exciting clássico between Sporting and Porto end in a narrow victory for the latter, as Benfica stayed top of the pile by edging past Vitória Guimarães. Famalicão took advantage of Sporting’s defeat to reclaim third place and end their own bad patch of league form. 

There was a clear standout result of the weekend though as Braga demolished Belenenses 7-1. Scarcely can a new manager’s first game in charge have gone better, and new Braga boss Rúben Amorim is the PortuGOAL Figure of the Week after his instant impact upon the team.

Sporting 1-2 FC Porto

The first Clássico of 2020 provided rich entertainment for the 41,247 crowd at Alvalade. A cagey first half ended all square after Marcos Acuña's stunning angled shot cancelled out Marega's early effort. 

The hosts came out all guns blazing in the second half, with chance after chance created, but Vietto, Luiz Phellype and Bruno Fernandes could not convert their opportunities, and were punished when Tiquinho Soares rose high to head in the winner for Porto.