Portuguese Football in English
Portuguese striker Beto scored a superb early brace as Lazio and Udinese played out an extraordinary eight-goal thriller in the Italian capital on Thursday night.
Beto demonstrated great variation in his attributes to put Udinese two goals up early on at the Stadio Olimpico. His first was a clinical header from Mato Jajalo’s cross on 17 minutes, before the forward raced away from the Lazio defence and showed flawless composure in rounding goalkeeper Pepe Reina for his second on 32 minutes.
Aston Villa 1-2 Manchester City
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says Bernardo Silva is currently the best player in the Premier League, after the Portuguese scored a memorable goal in their 2-1 victory at Aston Vila.
Rúben Dias also found the net for City, but Bernardo’s goal and his increasingly impressive performances this term are seeing many claim the former Benfica man is in the best form of his career.
Rennes 1-2 Lille
It was a superb evening for Lille’s Portuguese contingent on Wednesday as the Ligue 1 champions earned an impressive win at Rennes.
The goals were scored by Renato Sanches, who was the star of the show, and midfielder Xeka, while captain Jose Fonte praised the performance of defender Tiago Djaló after the match.
Levadiakos 3-2 Olympiacos
It was a significant night for Portuguese in Greece on Wednesday as Rúben Semedo marked his return to action with a goal and Rony Lopes scored for the first time in the club’s colours in the Greek Cup first leg at Levadiakos.
Semedo had not played since August 10, having been charged with sexual assault, while for ex-Benfica man Lopes, getting his name on the scoresheet represents an encouraging sign in kick-starting his career.
Only two players have scored more Premier League goals than Diogo Jota this season, as the Portugal forward continues to prove a reliable goalscorer in Liverpool’s title hunt. Jota struck twice against Southampton on Saturday to help the Reds reduce the gap from leaders Chelsea to two points.
Meanwhile, namesake Jota, currently on-loan with Celtic from Benfica, is also establishing himself as a star performer in the Scottish Premiership. Elsewhere, there was a superb winner for Tómané in Turkey, as well as further Luso goals in Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania and Luxembourg.
