22 October 2006, by Marco Pereira

Four-goal Nacional continue spectacular turnaround

Boavista 0-4 Nacional

After three defeats in their first three Liga matches, Nacional have turned their season around in spectacular fashion by winning four consecutive games, culminating in last night’s 4-0 hammering of Boavista in Porto.

As for the Black Panthers, they have been doing their best impersonation of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde as they succumbed to their second consecutive defeat. The team from Porto have interspersed exciting performances and positive results with dreadful displays, and have failed to put consecutive victories together all season. Their fans never know which team to expect at kick-off.

Fans who attended the game had little time to settle in as Nacional got their first goal in the 2nd minute. Rodrigo Silva scored a stunning effort inside the box when his perfectly executed bicycle kick found the back of the net.

Before Boavista had time to react, Nacional got their second goal of the game in the 15th minute when Rodrigo Silva went from scorer to provider as his cross from the left was headed in by Jose Vitor leaving Boavista goalkeeper, William, with no chance.

Penalty save

Boavista had a glorious opportunity to get themselves back in the game when Patacas was harshly adjudged to have handled in the box. Boavista’s Austrian striker, Roland Linz, shot strongly from the penalty spot only to see Nacional keeper Diego get a hand on it, deflecting the ball onto the post and back into play, where Ze Manel failed to hit the rebound into the net.

Boavista were all over the place during the first half and Nacional tried to take advantage when Alonso got on the end of a Rodrigo Silva cross and sent the ball skimming just past the post. Finally, in the 37th minute, Boavista managed to get close to the Nacional goal when Linz saw his header creep over the crossbar and just before the break, Leo Tambussi also headed inches over.

The second half began with a bang as Mario Silva was shown his second yellow of the match for a harsh tackle on Jose Vitor, and was rightfully sent off. Nacional took advantage of the extra man when they scored their third in the 54th minute. Jose Vitor fed the waiting Patacas in the box, who easily beat William to make it 3-0.

Diego then produced a spectacular save from a Linz effort. But at the other end of the pitch the swarms of attacks initiated by Nacional were too much for the Boavista defence. A fourth goal was conceded in the 69th minute when Cisse touched a Juliano Spadacio cross behind his own keeper for his second own goal in two matches.

The pressure is beginning to mount on Boavista boss, Zeljko Petrovic, who has only been in the job for two months. All is not well for the Montenegrin who claimed a few weeks ago that Boavista were Portugal’s fourth biggest club. More alarming for the coach is the fact that Boavista’s training sessions on Sunday and Monday have been confirmed to be cancelled.

Boavista coach, Zeljko Petrovic:

“I will continue to be Boavista’s coach. Everything is still very heated, but tomorrow we will speak to the players. We are not in a good phase, we need some time.”

Nacional coach, Carlos Brito:

“It was a just victory. I would like to thank my players for the way they won, above all, respecting Boavista. I always like to see a game of football with fair-play and competitiveness. If our opponents couldn’t manage better, I believe a lot of merit is down to my players.”

“This was not revenge! To me, Boavista will never be about revenge. The club will always be more than just an ex-employer.”

Boavista:
William, Bessa (Ricardo Sousa, 32), Leo Tambussi, Cisse, Mario Silva, Tiago, Kazmierczak, Lucas, Ze Manel, Roland Linz (Fary, 70), Grzelak (Fernando Dinis, 56)
Yellow Cards: Mario Silva (33 & 49)
Red Cards: Mario Silva (49)

Nacional:
Diego Benaglio, Patacas, Ricardo Fernandes, Fernando Cardozo, Alonso, Chainho, Bruno (Juliano Spadacio, 61), Bruno Amaro, Jose Vitor, Rodrigo Silva (Chilikov, 79), Ricardo Pateiro (Bruno Basto, 70)
Yellow Cards: Alonso (12), Patacas (16), Bruno (53), Chainho (76)

Goals:
[0-1] Rodrigo Silva, 2
[0-2] Jose Vitor, 15
[0-3] Patacas, 54
[0-4] Cisse, 69 (o.g.)