Belenenses make Leixoes pay the penalty

Leixoes 1-2 Belenenses

Belenenses notched an important 2-1 away victory against Leixoes last night, jumping up to sixth spot in the table.

Goals on either side of the interval by Weldon were enough to down relegation fighters Leixoes, as Paulo Machado collected a late consolation goal to make the scoreline respectable.

Weldon was not the only star for the visitors as Julio Cesar came up huge for his side with the goalkeeper saving two penalties in the final minutes of an entertaining affair at the Estadio do Mar.

Both teams were showing a lot of initiative in the opening minutes, trying to get the first goal of the match. Leixoes thought they had done just that in the 17th minute, but Roberto’s effort was ruled out for handball. Five minutes later Vieirinha saw his shot miss only by the tiniest of margins.

But it was the Blues who got on the scoreboard first, in the 27th minute, as Weldon took advantage of a fortuitous bounce and slotted the ball past Beto. The visitors almost doubled their lead on two separate occasions in 35th minute as Ruben Amorim’s effort just missed the near post and then Roncatto did well to waltz past the Leixoes defence and rattle a shot against the post.

At the other end of the pitch Jorge Goncalves blasted just wide before Leixoes had strong claims for a penalty turned down for an alleged handball from Hugo Alcantara. The second half continued the ebb and flow of attack, and Weldon scored his second in the 54th minute, finishing confidently after a good Rodrigo Alvim pass to score his 9th goal of the season.

Despite the best efforts of the energetic Jorge Goncalves Leixoes were finding it hard to get themselves back in the game, with Roberto denied by a superb Julio Cesar save. The hosts finally broke down the stubborn Belenenses rearguard in the 80th minute when Paulo Machado sent a screamer past Cesar to make it interesting at 2-1 with 10 minutes to go.

There was late drama Candido Costa and goalkeeper Julio Cesar were adjudged to have brought down Leixoes forwards in the box in the 85th and 90th minutes, but first Roberto then Jaime failed to convert the spot kicks, with Cesar producing a particularly outstanding save from the first penalty.

It was perhaps poetic justice as a tying goal in the dying moments would have been harsh considering the Belenenses performance during the 90 minutes.

Leixoes:
Beto, Filipe Oliveira, Joel, Nuno Silva, Bruno China, Nuno Amaro (Jaime, 67), Castanheira (Paulo Machado, 46), Hugo Morais, Jorge Goncalves, Vieirinha (Diogo Valente, 53), Roberto
Yellow Cards: Roberto (17)

Belenenses:
Julio Cesar, Amaral (Candido Costa, 57), Rolando, Hugo Alcantara, Rodrigo Alvim, Ruben Amorim, Gabriel Gomez, Silas (Evandro, 79), Ze Pedro, Roncatto (Rafael Bastos, 63), Weldon
Yellow Cards: Silas (25), Amaral (42), Rafael Bastos (70), Candido Costa (85)

Goals:
[0-1] Weldon, 27
[0-2] Weldon, 54
[1-2] Paulo Machado, 80