Portuguese Football in English
Benfica 1-1 Estoril (Estoril win penalty shootout 5-4)
Estoril caused a shock in Leiria tonight, knocking Benfica out of the Portuguese league cup with a penalty shootout victory after an entertaining semi-final had finished 1-1 after 90 minutes.
An early goal from the ever-impressive Rafik Guitane gave Estoril a half-time lead. Benfica captain Nicolás Otamendi equalised on the hour mark, but despite creating several clear chances the Eagles could not score the winner.
Braga 1-0 Sporting
Braga are in the final of the Portuguese league cup after beating Sporting in a lively semi-final in Leiria tonight.
The Lisbon side hit the woodwork three times in the first half and spurned multiple chances, while Abel Ruiz put the ball in the net from only Braga’s second shot on target in 65th minute.
The Arsenalistas improved significantly after taking the lead and held on relatively comfortably to book their place in Saturday’s final.
FC Porto 5-0 Moreirense
FC Porto have remained hot on the heels of rivals Sporting and Benfica with a victory at home to Moreirense in the Primeira Liga, thrashing the high-flyers 5-0 at the Estádio do Dragão.
The Dragons fired themselves ahead of the visitors with an early goal from Brazilian full-back Wendell to take a 1-0 lead into the interval.
Sérgio Conceição’s men repeated their dose coming out of the second half with a goal from another Brazilian, Evanilson, before his compatriot, Galeno, joined the party with a killer third goal.
A fourth clinical strike saw Porto come full circle as Wendell celebrated a brace, before Alan Varela drew the curtains on their biggest win of the season with a 5-0 victory.
There was a distinctly South American flavour to yet another win for the Portuguese champions – their eighth in succession – as Benfica continue to chase down leaders Sporting at the top of the Primeira Liga.
In a match dominated by the Eagles from start to finish, the home fans had to wait until the second half to celebrate. Ángel Di Maria notched a goal and an assist, while January signing Marcos Leonardo made a scoring appearance off the bench for the second match running.
At the midpoint of what is proving to be an intriguing 2023/24 season in Portugal’s top division, football journalist Andrew Batista selects the top individual performers to create the Best XI of the Liga Portugal thus far…
Halfway through and it’s been a season of surprises, serious stakes, and super Swedes, we’ve had it all in the Primeira Liga setting the stage for an exciting second half of the campaign.
Here are the standout performers in my best XI of the season so far.
