Portuguese Football in English
Only three points separated first and sixth place in Liga Portugal 2, as we arrived into a weekend that was sure to thin out the herd or invite more into the race for promotion, with third meeting fifth when Santa Clara visited Oliveirense.
Elsewhere, Os Belenenses fought till the end in an unbelievable comeback with two late goals, spoiling Torreense’s party.
PortuGOAL rounds up the top action from the Portuguese second tier.
AVS maintained their strong start to the season after coming from behind to beat Académico de Viseu 2-1 at Estádio Municipal do Fontelo.
Viseu took the lead in the 47th minute when Jovani Welch slammed a shot from distance into the top corner.
The visitors didn’t take long to equalise, Nenê laying the ball into the path of Jonatan Lucca who fired a low drive into the bottom corner.
The comeback was complete in the 71st minute when Vasco Lopes measured a curling effort into the top corner.
Jorge Costa had the last laugh after leaving Viseu with six games remaining last season, the manager doing a great job with the newly formed club.
Farense 2-3 Sporting
A 3-2 win on Saturday moved Sporting CP ahead of rivals Benfica and FC Porto. The Lisbon club is now the only undefeated team in Portugal with 19 points from their opening seven matches.
Rúben Amorim’s side did just enough to earn a victory against a resilient SC Farense that played 72 minutes with 10 men.
Benfica beat 10-man Porto in the Portuguese capital tonight to rise to the top of the table and inflict a first league defeat of the season on the Dragons.
The visitors were reduced to ten men before 20 minutes were up when Fábio Cardoso received a straight red card for bringing down David Neres.
Benfica took their time to profit from their numerical advantage, Di María continuing his free-scoring early-season form to net the all-important winner midway through the second half.
Braga made it back-to-back wins in the Primeira Liga after an enthralling 4-2 victory against Estrela da Amadora at Estádio José Gomes.
Álvaro Djaló opened the scoring in the 13th minute and doubled the visitors’ advantage four minutes after half-time.
The contest appeared to be over in the 68th minute when Simon Banza converted from close range, but Amadora had other ideas with two substitutes playing a key role.
Kikas produced a classy finish in the 75th minute, Jean Felipe executing an excellent free kick four minutes later which set up a grandstand finish.
Alioune Ndour missed a glorious chance to equalise in the 87th minute and the hosts paid the price, Ricardo Horta doing it all himself in added time to secure all three points.
