Sporting made it three wins on the bounce with a regulation 2-0 victory over struggling Estoril Praia at Alvalade tonight.

The Lions therefore kept in touch at the top of the table and remain part of the discussion in betting glossary terms for Champions League qualification.

Goals in each half from Héctor Bellerín and Francisco Trincão gave Sporting the points. 

Porto’s Primeira Liga hopes suffered a big blow after a 2-1 defeat to Gil Vicente at Estádio do Dragão.

Sérgio Conceição’s side got off to a great start when Mehdi Taremi opened the scoring in the 4th minute. Pepê Aquino missed a glorious opportunity and Danny Namaso rattled the bar before João Mário was sent off in the 35th minute.

Porto were dealt another blow on the stroke of half time when Mateus Uribe conceded a penalty which was converted by Murilo de Souza.

The Dragons’ evening went from bad to worse in the 52nd minute when Uribe received a second yellow card.

Porto tried valiantly with nine men but couldn’t find an equaliser, Gil Vicente securing their first victory at Estádio do Dragão in 27 attempts.

• Maritimo
• Primeira Liga,
• Santa Clara
• Arouca
• Casa Pia
• Rafa Mujica
• Percy Liza
• Claudio Winck

Those that had the likes of Arouca and Casa Pia above household names such as Santa Clara and Marítimo at the start of the season may have been accused of reading the Primeira Liga table upside down back in August. But as the fixtures tick down, the bold prediction has looked more and more nailed on.

With the latest round of top division football pinning the two sensations up against each other in a direct battle for a top six spot, there was also, rather coincidentally, a crucial meeting between the underachievers down the bottom as Marítimo and Santa Clara faced off in a high-stakes ‘Derby Insular’.

Arouca relied on a late show to overcome ten-man Casa Pia at home, taking them above their opponents by a point before Marítimo, crucially, made it out of the automatic drop-zone with a 3-1 victory against Jorge Simão’s stalling side. Here’s how the quartet fared.

João Mário scored both goals as Benfica beat Vizela 2-0 in a tremendous game of football in the Primeira Liga.

The match went back and forth before the Eagles went ahead in the 38th minute, converting a counter attack with João Mário steering the ball past Fabijan Buntic.

It was all Vizela in the second half, the hosts going incredibly close to an equaliser in the 65th minute when Milutin Osmajić and Kiko Bondoso hit the woodwork.

Anderson was sent off late which ended Vizela’s chances, Alejandro Grimaldo brought down in the box in added time where Mário sealed the deal from the penalty spot.