Portuguese Football in English
Sporting’s tumultuous summer is an increasingly distant memory as the Lisbon club made it five wins and one draw from their opening six matches in all competitions with a 2-0 Europa League victory over Quarabag at Alvalade tonight.
Second-half goals by young stars Raphinha and Jovane earned the three points for the Lions.
Comprehensive Portuguese in the Champions League round-up
Renato Sanches came back to the Estádio da Luz and stole the show as Bayern Munich inflicted a 2-0 defeat on Benfica. The 21-year-old midfielder was involved in the first goal and scored the second. Porto got what could prove a crucial point as they began their Champions League campaign with a 1-1 draw in Germany at Schalke, Otávio scoring from the penalty spot. Matthew Marshall reports from Gelsenkirchen and Tom Kundert from Lisbon.
PortuGOAL also rounds up all the action involving Portuguese players and coaches as Ronaldo received a shock red card, Bernardo Silva scored in a losing effort and there were differing fortunes for coaches José Mourinho, Paulo Fonseca and Leonardo Jardim.
The opening chapter of Liga NOS 2018/19 concluded with Jornada 4 this weekend, the final round of games before the first international break of the season.
The results had a familiar feel, with a lot of the usual, expected-to-be top half suspects recording victories. This edition of Figure of the Week, like many, had a number of contenders. Feirense’s Brazilian goalkeeper Caio Secco was magnificent in an unlucky late defeat to Sporting (in which the Lions’ youngster Jovane Cabral had another exciting cameo), Santa Clara’s Osama Rashid scored twice to help the promoted side to their first win of the season and Benfica’s Eduardo Salvio showed what he is capable of during a 4-0 triumph over Nacional.
However, this week’s individual honours go to a player who has really impressed in the early phases of the campaign, and who provided a moment of brilliance in the dying stages of Rio Ave’s match with Portimonense. Gelson Dala, on loan from Sporting, is PortuGOAL’s Figure of the Week.
There was to be one final showing of club football before the habitual September international break, with the action at the top of the Primeira Liga taking us to Alvalade first for Matchday Four.
Sporting’s opponent’s, Feirense, claimed their fair share of praise pre-match, and it was justified as they made the Lions sweat before yet another inspired cameo from Jovane Cabral turned the tide for his team, as José Peseiro’s men made it three wins from four games with a 1-0 victory.
The next significant encounter saw Benfica return to the Choupana following Nacional’s promotion to top flight, with the Eagles ensuring they weren’t to be left behind with a cool 4-0 win away from home on Sunday.
FC Porto followed their rivals with a home fixture against Moreirense, as they patched up some of the wounds left from last week’s 3-2 defeat to Vitória de Guimarães by sticking three past Ivo Vieira’s team without reply. PortuGOAL rounds up the best of the action.
Round 3 of the 2018/19 Liga NOS season was highlighted by the unusual statistic of each of the “Big 3” failing to win any of their respective matches over the weekend. Benfica and Sporting played out a 1-1 draw in the Lisbon derby, while Porto suffered a stunning upset at the hands of Vitória Guimarães, who came from 2-0 down to secure a famous 3-2 victory at the Estádio do Dragão.
The latter was in no short part down to an outstanding goalkeeping display from veteran Vitória goalkeeper Douglas Jesus, who is PortuGOAL’s Figure of the Week.
