Portuguese Football in English
Another twist in the title race in Week 21 of Liga NOS saw Sporting’s unbeaten domestic run unexpectedly end away at a struggling Estoril side.
Porto took full advantage with a potentially pivotal 3-1 win over what has been a very impressive Braga side. All three of their goals were headers, and all three supplied by arguably the division’s most consistent player in 2017/18: Brazilian left-back Alex Telles.
Porto’s assist king is PortuGOAL’s Figure of the Week.
Following the twists and turns in this most fascinating of title races in the midweek round of games, what more surprises could the Primeira Liga throw up at the top of the table panorama?
Despite Rio Ave's best efforts, Benfica rose to their fans' demands by overcoming a one-goal half time deficit, as Jonas starred in a 5-1 victory. By the same token, in this weekend's main event, FC Porto battled to skip by Sporting de Braga with a 3-1 victory to reclaim top-spot, apparently on a temporary basis.
Whether the Dragons stayed at the summit hinged on Sporting's away trip to Estoril's Estádio António Coimbra da Mota, and it was there that Jorge Jesus' team succumbed to a shock 2-0 defeat - their first in domestic competitions this season - to slip down to third in the standings. PortuGOAL recaps the weekend's events.
A potentially pivotal week in the title race saw Sporting take advantage of Porto and Benfica dropping points away from home.
The standout individual on display though was Brazilian striker Fabrício, who scored a hat-trick for Portimonense in their hugely impressive 4-1 win over Rio Ave, proving there is more to the Algarve club than the much trumpeted Brazilian and Japanese stars Paulinho and Nakajima.
Fabrício dos Santos Messias is PortuGOAL’s Figure of the Week.
The title race is ultra-competitive, we have no idea who is going down and European spots are still up for grabs – Liga NOS has been great this season and clubs will be doing everything they can to get an edge over one another via some mid-season transfer business.
PortuGOAL’s Tiago Estêvão runs the rule over a month of hectic comings and goings at every one of Portugal’s 18 top-flight teams.
With the winter transfer window slamming shut across most of Europe, it was business as usual in Portugal with its latest midweek instalment of Primeira Liga fixtures.
Taking centre stage first on Monday night were Benfica, who required a late late Jonas equaliser to dig them out of an improbable defeat away to Belenenses, as the two Lisbon sides drew 1-1. The shared points were welcomed with open arms by FC Porto fans who flocked to Moreira de Cónegos, before they too had to settle for a solitary point, drawing 0-0 with Moreirense.
The surprise results opened the door at the top for Sporting to leapfrog their rivals, hosting Vitória de Guimarães and dealing them a late knockout blow through Jeremy Mathieu to win 1-0 at Alvalade. PortuGOAL brings you up to speed with the goings-on in the Primeira Liga title race.
