2 September 2007, by Marco Pereria

Last-gasp Linz completes Braga comeback

Sporting Braga 2-1 Estrela da Amadora

Sporting Braga left it until the last nine minutes of the game to earn a 2-1 victory against Estrela da Amadora. An early NDaiye goal was cancelled out by an 81st minute Alberto Rodriguez strike and new boy Roland Linz scored the winner shortly afterwards.

A second consecutive win for the Arsenalistas shoots them up the standings into third, but a win by Sporting could drop them down to fourth.

Braga were caught with their pants down early in the game when NDaiye took advantage of some slack Braga marking to get on the end of a Mateus cross and head the ball past Dani Mallo in the 8th minute.

Braga came roaring back three minutes later when Vandinho sent a header against the Estrela post. The striker was then left in front of goal with only Nelson to beat, only to hit the post again. Braga were unlucky not to equalise in the 38th minute as Hussain had a goal ruled out for offside, but replays showed it was legal.

Estrela then also had a goal dubiously called offside as Cardoso tucked the ball into the back of the net after a goal-mouth scramble, but the referee ruled out the effort.

Braga were desperate to find an equalizer after the re-start, and it almost arrived in the 66th minute as Linz hit the ball across goal but saw the effort whistle past the far post. Second-half substitute Ze Manel then saw a shot deflected by Nelson onto the post before going out of play.

In the 81st minute, to the delight of the home crowd, Alberto Rodriguez scored the leveller when Estrela failed to clear a corner kick and the Braga defender was on the spot to nudge the ball into the net to make it 1-1.

Just before full-time Linz gave the home side the win when he splendidly took down a Ze Manel cross with his chest, and struck the ball past Nelson to give Braga a well-deserved 2-1 victory.

Sporting Braga:
Dani Mallo, Joao Pereira, Paulo Jorge, Alberto Rodriguez, Cesar Peixoto (Ze Manel, 68), Madrid (Castanheira, 46), Vandinho, Joao Pinto, Hussain, Roland Linz, Wender (Jailson, 79)
Yellow Cards: Cesar Peixoto (7), Madrid (43), Paulo Jorge (84)

Estrela da Amadora:
Nelson, Rui Duarte, Wagnao, Cardoso, Fernando (Daniel Silva, 55), Tiago Gomes, Mateus, Pedro Pereira (Vitor Moreno, 67), Moses, NDiaye 9Marco Paulo, 75)
Yellow Cards: Nelson (22), Mateus (85)

Goals:
[0-1] NDaiye, 8
[1-1] Alberto Rodriguez, 81
[2-1] Roland Linz, 87