Torreense beat Sporting da Covilhã in an entertaining Segunda Liga clash at Estádio Manuel Marques.

Covilhã captain Gilberto saw his penalty saved by by Vagner before the hosts opened the scoring in the 34th minute, Patrick latching onto a long ball from Cícero and poking it past a hesitant Bruno Bolas.

Cícero squeezed the ball through Bolas in the 47th minute after Frédéric threaded the needle, Covilhã manager Alex Costa getting some rewards after abandoning the back three formation. 

Covilhã reduced the deficit in the 67th minute when Willinton Aponzá fired through traffic, but they couldn't find an equaliser, substitute Leandro Godoy ending the contest in added time.

Benfica’s lead at the top of the Primeira Liga has been reduced to seven points after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Porto at Estádio da Luz.

The Eagles got off to a great start in O Clássico, taking the lead in the 10th minute when Gonçalo Ramos’ header found the net after rebounding off the bar and Diogo Costa.

Porto stayed in the contest and equalised on the stroke of half time when Mateus Uribe swept Pepê Aquino’s clever ball into the bottom corner.

The Dragons kept their foot on the gas after half time and scored the decisive goal in the 54th minute. Pepe’s hopeful long ball wasn’t cleared by Benfica’s defence, Galeno teeing up Mehdi Taremi who beat Odysseas Vlachodimos with a low drive.

This week’s Clássico feels like a season-defining match. Last year Porto won the league with a late Zaidu Sanusi goal at the Estádio da Luz. This time round a rampant Benfica will be hoping to all but seal the championship with victory in the same fixture.

On the Longball Futebol podcast we’ve all but given the league to Benfica who sit 10 points clear with eight games to go. Since the league introduced three points for a win rather than two, this is the first time Benfica have amassed a 10-point lead at the top of the table which shows you the level that Roger Schmidt has got his team playing at.

Porto’s only chance of a late title challenge would be to win on Friday and hope that would precipitate a rapid Benfica decline. PortuGOAL previews the big match and the best of the rest in the Jornada 27 preview. 

Eight rounds of Liga Bwin football to go for the campaign as matters at the top of the division remained “as you were”, all of the top four sides Benfica, Porto, Braga and Sporting recording victories over the course of the weekend.

If the aforementioned quartet are well-established in the higher echelons of Primeira Liga then the team just below them certainly is not as Arouca continued their magnificent campaign, a stoppage time victory at Famalicão moving them up to 5th place.

Down at the bottom the relegation battle intensified, a beleaguered Marítimo in particular refusing to throw in the towel just yet as the islanders secured a thrilling triumph over Boavista in Madeira. Portuguese-Angolan midfielder and PortuGOAL Figure of the Week André Vidigal was in fine form in a sharp two-goal display.