1 October 2006, by Marco Pereira

Boavista too good for Belenenses

Belenenses 0-2 Boavista

Belenenses suffered their first defeat of the season as they went down 0-2 at the Restelo to Boavista. The win not only gets Boavista back to winning ways, but continues their remarkable stranglehold on the team from Belem, not having lost away to Belenenses since 1994.

It did not take long for the Black Panthers to get on the score sheet as impressive Austrian striker Roland Linz got his 4th goal of the season. Three minutes were on the clock when Linz hit a first-time shot with his right foot that crashed into the back of the net.

In the 35th minute Boavista doubled their lead as Linz turned provider and set up Ze Manel, who, one on one against Belenenses goalkeeper, Costinha, made no mistake.

Belenenses had no reply to Boavista’s suffocating style of play and had to rely on free kicks and shots from distance to create any kind of scoring opportunity. The team from Porto had the game well in control by the break.

Belenenses’ best chance of the game came in the 63rd minute when Dady headed a Rodrigo Alvim cross that just sailed over the crossbar.

The lack of imagination from Belenenses showed they sorely missed Ze Pedro, with the Blues’ talisman suspended for the match after picking up a red card in his last game.

Boavista were content to play their defensive game having won the three points in the fist half. Belenenses were unable to come up with any solutions to break down the strong Boavista rearguard, with the home team producing undoubtedly their poorest performance of the season so far.

A sombre Jorge Jesus did not make excuses for his team’s loss: “We are a team that normally positions itself well defensively. In this game that did not happen. We started the game a goal down and continued to err which led to the second goal. After we gave them the lead, we were always chasing the result.”

Jesus recognised Boavista’s superiority throughout the game. “When they are winning it’s difficult to surprise them. They are a team that manages the result and the time well.”

Zeljko Petrovic hailed his team’s win and believes his side can make a big impact on Portuguese football. “We always play to win. Our status is the 4th big team (in Portugal), therefore we have to go for the win always. We played a fantastic first half and scored two very good goals.”

“I know of the rivalry that exists between the two clubs, but with all due respect to Belenenses, the 4th big club is Boavista. I respect Belenenses, their history and their status, but the 4th big club, I repeat, is us.”

As for the game, Petrovic feels his team were vastly superior to his opponents and that it was an all round effort that gave Boavista the win.

“We were very good tactically, we were very good defensively, and they did not have any opportunities. Our substitutes played very well and provided important contributions. I am very happy with everybody.”

The Boavista boss concluded by saying that he is certain the team and club are heading for bigger and better things in the future.

Belenenses:
Costinha, Sousa (Pinheiro, 81), Gaspar, Nivaldo, Rodrigo Alvim, Ruben Amorim, Mancuso, Candido Costa, Roma (Dady, 46), Silas, Manoel (Eliseu, 31)
Yellow Cards: Gaspar (16)

Boavista:
William, Helder Rosario, Ricardo Silva, Cisse, Mario Silva (Fernando Dinis, 58), Tiago, Kazmierczak, Lucas, Ricardo Sousa (Grzelak, 64), Ze Manel (Essame, 83), Roland Linz
Yellow Cards: William (28), Cisse (33), Mario Silva (37), Kazmierczak (43), Ricardo Silva (47), Ricardo Sousa (51), Helder Rosario (57)

Goals:
[0-1] Roland Linz, 3
[0-2] Ze Manel, 35