Portuguese Football in English
Benfica secured a narrow 2-1 victory at the Estádio da Luz to take an advantage in the first leg of their Europa League playoff tie versus Toulouse.
The Lisbon side will consider themselves fortunate after two second half penalties proved to be the difference in a tightly-contested match.
Ángel Di María was the hero on the night after converting two spot-kicks but Roger Schmidt will accept that his side will have to improve if they have hopes of progressing to the round of 16.
Braga’s Europa League ambitions took a big blow after a 4-2 defeat to Qarabag in the Europa League Knockout Round Play-off first leg.
The Azerbaijani champions took the lead from the penalty spot in the 21st minute, Marko Jankovic beating Matheus after Víctor Gómez had brought down Elvin Cafarquliyev.
The Warriors equalised on the stroke of half-time when Sikou Niakaté’s effort was cleared off the line and Simon Banza pounced on the rebound.
The Quarry faithful were shocked in the second half when Qarabag scored three goals in 15 minutes.
Abdellah Zoubir netted after pouncing on a free kick, Juninho beat the offside trap and slotted the ball past Matheus before Leandro Andrade finished at the far post.
Roger Fernandes won a late penalty that was converted by João Moutinho, the goal reducing Braga’s deficit to two goals ahead of a tough trip to Baku next week.
Young Boys 1-3 Sporting
A potentially tricky away trip proved anything but as Sporting continued their excellent form to beat Young Boys 3-1 in Bern this afternoon and put themselves in prime position to reach the last 16 of the Europa League.
An own goal by Aurèle Amenda, a Viktor Gyökeres penalty and a Gonçalo Inácio header got the job done for the Lions, with Filip Ugrinic keeping the Swiss team’s faint hopes of pulling off a shock in the second leg alive.
Jornada 21 may have been one of the most exciting of the season so far as Sporting demolished Braga, Benfica only managed to scrape a draw against Vitória in torrential conditions, and Porto were outplayed by comparative minnows Arouca. All of that drama saw Sporting go back to the top of the table on level points with Benfica, but with a vital game in hand to play against Famalicão.
This weekend might not have as many mouth-watering fixtures, but it’s no less important in the shaping of the season as the Primeira Liga continues to march on towards its conclusion. PortuGOAL previews the weekend action.
Val Carvalho put himself in the guise of a Porto fan. Thanks to a whim and an ill-thought out bet (who hasn’t been there before), Val brings us a vivid account of his fraught emotions on Monday night as Porto were undone by Arouca...
Sérgio Conceição sat in the home dugout following the frustrating tie with Rio Ave. He rubbed his hands roughly over his eyes. Was this statistically an unjust result? Perhaps yes, but the enigmatic coach has seen this before and hopes it does not signal a bad turn. Sérgio took a deep breath and looked to the heavens for solace. None would be offered. In fact it was soon to get way worse.
