Reigning champions Sporting produced a highly competent performance at a difficult venue to beat Vitória 4-1 in Guimarães tonight. The win keeps the gap to Primeira Liga leaders Porto to five points with two matches remaining until the end of the primeira volta that marks the halfway stage of the season.
The corresponding fixture last year was one of the games of the season, ending in 4-4 draw at the Dom Afonso Henriques, and a huge crowd and terrific atmosphere at kick-off augured for another entertaining match.
But the home fans were knocked back by a superb opening 45 minutes from Sporting, who went into the break with a deserved 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Francisco Trincão and Fotis Ioannidis, the second of which after a wonderful sweeping move from one box to the other.
Goalkeeper blunders at both ends
Vitória were offered a route back into the game when Sporting goalkeeper Rui Silva made a mess of dealing with Telmo Arcanjo’s shot, allowing it to slip through his hands and into the net.
With the crowd coming alive again and Vitória re-energised, Sporting began to wobble, but another goalkeeping howler restored the two-goal lead for the visitors. Luis Suárez’s tame pass across goal was somehow diverted into his own net by Juan Castillo.
The goal settled Sporting, who reassumed control of the match and scored a fourth goal when Maxi Araújo followed up Castillo’s save from Suárez’s shot to tap into the net from point-blank range.
“I’d like to dedicate this victory to Iván Fresneda. A member of his family died this week but he wanted to stay with us and help the team and he played a great game,” said Sporting coach Rui Borges post-match.
Leaders FC Porto clocked up yet another win in the Liga Portugal, beating Alverca 3-0 to guarantee they will spend Christmas with their five-point buffer intact, and the gap to second-placed Sporting could be increased if the Lions drop points in Guimarães tomorrow.
Borja Sainz scored twice for Porto against Alverca, the first a brilliant team goal, the second a stunning individual strike
Later on Monday night, Benfica kept up their strong form by beating Famalicão 1-0 in Lisbon to register a fourth straight victory during which they have not conceded a single goal.
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Alverca 0-3 Porto
Porto have not always played brilliantly this season but they have been relentless in terms of getting the job done under new coach Francesco Farioli.
From the moment Borja Sainz headed into the net in the 29th minute after a superb move involving Samu and Rodrigo Mora, all doubts were dispelled that Porto would be enjoying win number 14 in 15 Liga Portugal matches this season.
Alan Varela doubled Porto’s lead shortly before the hour mark, and Sainz put the cherry on the cake with a stupendous curling shot into the top corner to complete a routine 3-0 victory for the Blue and Whites.
“I’m very happy with the result, with the display and to give this present to our fans,” said Farioli after the match.
At this rate, it’s going to take a huge effort by either Sporting or Benfica to prevent the Dragons from winning their first title in four seasons.
Alverca 0-3 Porto highlights
Benfica 1-0 Famalicão
José Mourinho’s Benfica are starting to become a recognisable José Mourinho team. Although not exactly dazzling, the side are incomparably more solid than in the first months of the campaign.
Tonight at the Estádio da Luz Benfica did an excellent job at shackling a strong Famalicão team, whose only defeats in 2025/26 before tonight had come against Sporting, Porto and Braga. The visitors barely had a sniff of a goal during the 90 minutes in the Portuguese capital.
Benfica did not create a bundle of chances themselves, but were the more dangerous team throughout the 90 minutes and deserved their 1-0 victory.
The last week in Portuguese football has been dominated by Sporting’s controversial penalty in the Azores to save them from defeat against Santa Clara. The same referee again pointed to the spot when Otamendi fell to the ground having been caught by Justin de Haas’s outstretched arm as the Dutch centre-back jumped to contest the ball. The decision was more understandable than the Sporting penalty, but neither incident would have likely led to spot kicks in leagues outside the whistle-happy Portuguese championship.
The penalty was smashed into the top corner by Vangelis Pavlidis, enabling the red-hot Greek striker to pull further away at the top of the goal-scoring charts having found the net 14 times in 15 Liga Portugal games.
“It was a deserved win, but not a beautiful one,” said Mourinho post-match. “It was not a victory of talent and beauty, like in our recent games, but of hard work and organisation, of rigour and humility, against a good team that lost away for the first time.”
Thiago Silva has signed for Porto after ending his contract with Fluminense. The 41-year-old Brazilian returns to the club he represented in the 2004/05 season when he appeared for Porto’s B team.
The durable central defender has represented AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea. He won the 2010-11 Serie A title, seven Ligue 1 titles and the UEFA Champions League.
Silva made his debut for Brazil in 2008, became the captain of the Seleção and earned 113 caps. Appearing in eight major tournaments, he was a member of the team that won the 2019 Copa América.
The veteran left a message for Porto supporters, saying: “Hello Porto fans, I’m here to announce my return to the Dragons. You can’t imagine how happy and flattered I am with this opportunity. I’m super motivated, and I hope I can help in the best way possible.
“I would like to thank our president, André Villas-Boas, for the opportunity, and our manager, Francesco Farioli, as well, and say how eager I am to wear these colors once again. I count on your support and I hope to see you at the Dragão stadium.”
Silva will strenghten a defence that is missing Nehuen Perez for the season and will be without Zaidu Sanusi who is on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Estoril came into Friday’s night’s encounter against Braga on the back of a 4-0 thrashing at Famalicão last weekend, which was the latest disappointment in a run of three defeats and one draw in their last four matches.
Braga, on the other hand, kicked off the game having won their last four matches in all competitions in an unbeaten run stretching back to seven games in total.
As all football fans know, one of the enduring attractions of the beautiful game is its unpredictability, and sure enough, all logic went out of the window as Estoril pulled off a 1-0 victory.
Estoril are one of the most entertaining teams to watch in Portugal, with goals normally guaranteed at both ends of the pitch. And Ian Cathro’s side were protagonists in another excellent spectacle, with the teams mirroring each other by each having 14 efforts on goal, of which 7 were on target.
The result may have been a surprise, but the bigger surprise was that only one goal was scored.
Former Braga youth striker André Laximicante scored the all-important goal shortly before half time.
Estoril round off their 2025 schedule with another home clash, against Alverca on 27 December, while Braga have two important engagements before the New Year, away at Caldas in the Portuguese Cup before hosting Benfica next weekend.
Midfielders Serginho and João Simões in action in the Azores tonight with Santa Clara manager Vasco Matos looking on
Portuguese Cup: Sporting scrape through; Porto thrash Famalicão to set up Benfica clash
Wind, rain, ten goals and a huge dose of controversy were packed into two more round-of-sixteen Portuguese Cup ties tonight.
Sporting benefited from a controversial stoppage time penalty to beat Santa Clara 3-2 in the Azores after extra time, while Porto smashed Famalicão 4-1 at the Estádio do Dragão.
Santa Clara 2-3 Sporting (after extra time)
When the two teams met in a Liga Portugal clash in early November it sparked a huge debate and complaints from Santa Clara and Sporting’s title rivals as the Lions won 2-1 after scoring from a late corner erroneously awarded by the referee.
At the same São Miguel venue this game is again guaranteed to cause a media storm after more drama and controversy.
The current Cup holders went ahead early on when João Simões finished a flowing move by swivelling and volleying into the corner of the net. Soon afterwards Santa Clara hit back with Lucas Soares skipping past Mateus Reis and firing in a powerful shot from 25 yards out. Two excellent goals and all square at half time.
That’s how it stayed until the 85th minute in a tightly fought encounter which seemed to be heading towards extra time as the rain began to lash down on the Atlantic Island. But Santa Clara were rewarded for their proactive approach as star player Gabriel Silva turned Gonçalo Inácio brilliantly and fired into the net from outside the box, with the aid of a big deflection off Eduardo Quaresma that left goalkeeper João Virgínia stranded. The hosts were 2-1 up and seemingly on their way to the quarter-finals.
Twelve minutes to make the decision
A leggy-looking Sporting were out of ideas, but when a cross was swung into the box and captain Morten Hjulmand fell to the ground VAR instructed the referee to hold on while the footage was studied. An incomprehensibly long wait ensued, with the officials eventually deciding to send the referee to the monitor who also took his time before pointing to the spot – fully 12 minutes after the incident had taken place.
The Santa Clara delegation in the dugout were evidently incensed, with the referee issuing two red cards amidst vehement protests from the coaching team and substitutes. The islanders had already had Paulo Victor sent off shortly before the 90 minutes were up.
Sporting striker Luis Suárez stayed cool amid the mayhem and calmly slotted the penalty into the net to make the score 2-2 and send the tie into extra time.
With an extra player and the huge psychological boost of having “come back from the dead”, it was little surprise when Sporting took the lead, Fotis Ioannidis heading in.
To their credit Santa Clara never threw in the towel, the outstanding Serginho (pictured above) causing Sporting headaches all night. But Sporting held on and will host AFS in the last eight for a place in the semi-finals.
Vasco Matos: “Today is a black day for Portuguese football”
Santa Clara coach Vasco Matos was commendably composed in his post-match interview but was incisive in his criticism of the officials.
“What did I think of the penalty? The same as everyone else who saw it. All the fans, all the journalists have the same opinion. Today is a black day for Portuguese football. I’m worried and a lot of people are worried about what’s happened. I’m speechless when I try to describe what happened on the pitch. It’s enough to make us to stop believing in football.”
Santa Clara 3-2 Sporting highlights
Porto sweep past Famalicão
In tonight’s other match, Porto overcame high-flying Famalicão at home to set up a mouth-watering quarter-final against Benfica, also at the Dragão, in January.
William Gomes took advantage of a defensive blunder to give the hosts the lead early doors, but Famalicão soon hit back with Justin de Haas powerfully heading in the equaliser from a corner.
Shortly before the break Porto retook the lead through Victor Froholdt, and late goals by Samu (6 goals in his last 4 matches) and Pepê saw the Blue & Whites run out comfortable winners.
Thiago Silva has signed for Porto after ending his contract with Fluminense. The 41-year-old Brazilian returns to the club he represented in the 2004/05 season when he appeared for Porto’s B team.
