Portuguese Football in English
The first half the Primeira Liga was completed this weekend, with a largely expected set of results.
Leaders Benfica won with surprising ease at Marítimo, hammering the islanders 4-0 in Funchal, Porto overcame atrocious conditions to win 3-1 at Penafiel and Sporting beat Rio Ave 4-2 in a thrilling match at the Alvalade.
There were also wins for Vitória Guimarães and Braga, the latter's 3-1 win at Vitória Setúbal costing Domingos Paciência his job.
With one weekend left until Portugal's Primeira Liga reaches the halfway stage, the big three all won this weekend and now occupy the top three positions.
Benfica made surprisingly light work of Vitória Guimarães with the northerners fortunate to escape Lisbon with only a 3-0 defeat. As expected, Porto easily overcame Belenenses at the Estádio do Dragão, matching Benfica's 3-0 victory.
In the big game on Sunday night Sporting scored a dramatic victory over Braga as Japanese striker Tanaka scored a magnificent winner direct from a free kick from the very last kick of the match.
The four Portuguese Cup quarter-finals over the last three days produced 21 goals and plenty of exciting football.
Rio Ave, Braga, Sporting and Nacional da Madeira were the teams making to the last four of the competition.
Yesterday, 5 January, was a notable day for the “B teams project” in Portugal, and not because of events on the pitch, as Benfica B beat Sporting B 1-0 at Alcochete.
Portuguese Football Federation President Fernando Gomes said that the investment in B teams should be increased, only for Sporting President Bruno de Carvalho to counter that Sporting B may be disbanded at the end of the season.
Marcos Vitorino discusses the underlying issues afflicting an initiative that was created to boost the supply line of players for the Seleção.
Football over the Christmas and New Year period in Portugal was dominated by a tumultuous fortnight for Sporting.
A breakdown in the relationship between club president Bruno de Carvalho and coach Marco Silva was widely reported, with several media outlets even jumping the gun and stating the highly rated tactician had been sacked.
Such reports proved incorrect. Carvalho publicly backed his coach on Saturday afternoon, shortly before Sporting's impressive 3-0 victory over Estoril, which was followed by a call for union by Silva and club captain Adrien.
