Portuguese Football in English
In matchday two of this season’s Champions League, Club Brugge embarrassed Porto badly by winning 4-0 at the Estádio do Dragão, leaving the Portuguese champions with zero points from two matches in Group B.
Tonight, Sérgio Conceição and his team repaid the Belgian side in kind by winning 4-0 at the Jan Breydel Stadion to complete a remarkable turnaround in their European campaign.
A brace by Taremi and goals from Evanilson and Eustáquio booked Porto’s place in the knockout stage.
A fantastic night’s entertainment in Lisbon tonight saw Benfica maintain their sensational start to the season with victory over Juventus in a seven-goal thriller.
The Portuguese giants bossed the game for 75 minutes and looked on course for a thumping win after racing into a 4-1 lead. A late fightback by the Italians made it a jittery ending but the Eagles held on for a 4-3 victory to book their place in the knockout stage of the Champions League for the second straight season.
Jornada ten of the Liga Bwin was a notable one as a typically tense ‘Clássico’ began the round’s proceedings, Benfica edging Porto to extend their lead at the top of the division.
An improving Vitória Guimarães maintained their positive run, dramatically defeating Boavista to move into the top six. Narrow wins for Famalicão, Santa Clara and Rio Ave eased their respective troubles at the wrong end of the table.
Another lower half mover was Chaves as they scraped into the top half of Liga Bwin thanks to a comeback win over Gil Vicente. Unsung midfield man João Mendes took the spotlight with two second half goals to inspire his team, and the Portuguese is our PortuGOAL Figure of the Week.
Rio Ave got back to winning ways after a fortunate 1-0 victory against Portimonense. Luís Freire’s side were second best at Estádio dos Arcos until Fahd Moufi received a straight red card in the 30th minute.
It was the turning point in the game with Emmanuel Boateng scoring the match winner on the stroke of half time. The Vilacondenses failed to kill the game off in the second half, losing control of the contest and avoiding a penalty claim.
Bryan Róchez came off the bench and headed wide in added time, Rio Ave holding on to record their third home win of the season.
It was not smooth sailing, but Sporting put in one of their most convincing performances of the season tonight at Alvalade to give themselves a boost ahead of the final stretch of matches before the World Cup season interruption.
The hosts created and spurned a hatful of chances in the first half and were punished when Clayton pounced to give Casa Pia a half-time lead. But the Lions kept up their intensity after the break and ended up with an entirely deserved victory thanks to goals from Paulinho, Nuno Santos and Pote.
