Sporting consigned the poor performance and draw against Midtjylland in Lisbon last week to a distant memory by thrashing the Danish side 4-0 in the away leg tonight, thanks largely to an inspired display by attacking midfielder Pedro Gonçalves.

Captain Sebastián Coates gave the visitors an early lead, with the sending-off of Midtjylland’s Paulinho before the break putting Sporting in complete control.

A brace from Pedro Gonçalves and a farcical own goal by Stefan Gartenmann saw the Portuguese side run out 5-1 winners on aggregate. 

Porto have a deficit to overturn after suffering a 1-0 defeat against Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg.

The Dragons went close in the 57th minute and were holding their own at a jam-packed San Siro before Otávio was sent off for a second booking in the 78th minute.

Sérgio Conceição tried to shut up shop but Romelu Lukaku had other ideas, the substitute volleying home after his initial header hit the post.

The stage is set for an intriguing second leg battle at Estádio Do Dragão on 14 March.

Twenty one rounds of Liga Bwin action down, thirteen to go as it remained business as usual in the league’s top four, all of Benfica, Porto, Braga and Sporting registering wins to remain in their respective order in the high echelons of the division.

Vitória Guimarães and Casa Pia’s battle for 5th ended in a stalemate, while Portimonense and Famalicão triumphed over Marítimo and Santa Clara to boost their own survival bids whilst condemning their opponents to further dread at the bottom.

Another team at the wrong end of Primeira Liga is Paços Ferreira but they gave their bid for maintenance a shot in the arm with a much-needed victory at Estoril. Scottish midfielder and PortuGOAL Figure of the Week Jordan Holsgrove was instrumental throughout in contributing to a 3-1 success.

Benfica restored their 5-point lead at the top of the Primeira Liga after a 3-1 win against Boavista but were made to work hard by the Panthers.

Gilberto broke the deadlock in the 55th minute, but Boavista immediately equalised through Yusupha Nije.

João Mário saw a penalty saved and it needed goals in the last ten minutes from Gonçalo Ramos and Peta Musa to seal the win for Benfica in front of 56,413 fans in Lisbon.