Portuguese Football in English
Benfica took command of the Champions League Round of 16 tie against Club Brugge after a 2-0 win Belgium.
The Eagles weathered an early storm, missing a number of opportunities before João Mário struck a penalty past Simon Mignolet in the 51st minute.
Brugge were unable to bridge the gap, David Neres pouncing on an error to make it 2-0 late on, Roger Schmidt’s side well placed to finish the job in Lisbon and advance to the quarter-finals.
Liga Bwin’s twentieth round was dominated by a typically fiercely contested heavyweight contest between Sporting and Porto, the latter coming out on top to maintain pace with league leaders Benfica, who stayed five points clear by courtesy of victory at strugglers Paços Ferreira.
Arouca continued their fine season by beating Santa Clara, while there were relegation battle boosts for Rio Ave and Gil Vicente, overcoming Estoril and Famalicão respectively.
Another team on the up is Vitória Guimarães, who defeated Portimonense thanks to a lively display from match-winner and PortuGOAL Figure of the Week Jota Silva, whose goal was enough for a third straight league win.
Boavista couldn’t turn their dominance into victory after an entertaining 0-0 draw against Casa Pia.
The Panthers bossed the first half at Estádio do Bessa Século XXI but couldn’t get the goal they deserved, Yusupha Njie and Ricardo Mangas going close with shots that rattled the bar.
Njie missed a glorious chance after the break when he headed straight at Ricardo Batista, Boavista’s dominance coming to an end in the 65th minute when Sebastián Pérez was sent off.
Casa Pia were unable to seriously test Rafael Bracali however, the visitors ultimately happy to take a point and stay in the race for fifth spot.
Love is in the air and midway through the month of February. In the same week as Valentine’s Day, fans around the old continent will be looking forward to passionate displays from their teams. This includes a quartet of Portuguese clubs that remain involved, hoping to break the hearts of their opponents, ardently seeking to make progress.
All four will face challenging encounters, as two clubs from Italy and one each from Belgium and Denmark will look to pursue their own aspirations in European competitions at the expense of Portugal’s representatives. How far will Cupid’s Arrow carry the trajectory of our four sides from Portugal? Well, oddsmakers are somewhat sceptical of their chances, when perusing the latest outright winner markets.
Sporting Clube de Braga have moved eight points clear of Sporting outfit after beating lowly-placed Marítimo 2-1 in Madeira, last night.
The Bracarenses were made to come from behind after a Brayan Riascos opener lifted the roof for the hosts, going a goal ahead in the 38th minute.
Braga responded no less than a couple of minutes later through Simon Banza before turning the game on its head before the interval via Uroš Račic’s spot-kick, concluding a 2-1 victory against the eventual ten men of Marítimo.
