Porto have cut the gap behind Benfica to four points after beating Santa Clara 2-1 at Estádio do Dragão.

Sérgio Conceição’s side were awarded two penalties in the opening 45 minutes, the first converted by Mateus Uribe and the second sent wide by Otávio.

The Dragons failed to press home their advantage in the second half until Danny Namaso extended their lead in the 80th minute.

Kyosuke Tagawa’s added time goal was too little to late for the Azoreans who remain rock bottom in the Primeira Liga.

• Benfica
• Maritimo
• Chaves
• Pacos de Ferreira
• Issah Abbas

Benfica have seen the race for the title re-open after conceding in the dying embers of their away clash versus Chaves this evening, losing 1-0.

A costly slip from Nicolás Otamendi enabled Ghanaian forward Issah Abbas to steal the headlines in a day to forget for Benfica, leaving their seven-point lead at the top of the Primeira Liga table in danger of being trimmed by FC Porto.

Elsewhere, Marítimo were able to secure a massive result in the battle for safety, securing a 3-1 victory at home against relegation rivals Paços de Ferreira.

The win sees Marítimo move to within three points from safety, meanwhile going five clear of troubled Paços, nailed to 17th place in the Primeira Liga table.

Leixões made it back to back wins in the Segunda Liga after a thrilling 3-2 victory against Sporting de Covilhã.

It was one way traffic in the first half at Estádio do Mar, Brunão converting Thalis’ corner and Ricardo Valente scoring a solo goal as Bebés do Mar took a deserved 2-0 half time lead.

Covilhã manager Alex Costa introduced Felipe Dini at the break, the midfielder reducing the deficit with a long range strike five minutes later. The visitors had grown in confidence and equalised in the 70th minute through Kukula.

Leixões regained the lead three minutes later through man of the match Thalis, his 10th goal of the season sending the home crowd happy in Matosinhos.

After last week’s Clássico victory saw Porto cut the gap between themselves and Benfica to 7 points, many eyes will naturally be on how the top two clubs respond, and whether the title race can be declared well and truly back on. 

However, much of the focus for Primeira Liga fans this weekend well be at the other end of the table, especially on the beautiful island of Madeira that hosts a crunch match.

PortuGOAL previews the weekend action in Portugal.