2 October 2006, by Marco Pereira

Impressive Nacional stun Academica

Academica 1-3 Nacional

Nacional paid a visit to their ex-coach, Manuel Machado, at the Estadio Cidade de Coimbra and were not gracious guests as they walked away with a 3-1 victory. The win comes on the back of Nacional’s gut-wrenching elimination in the UEFA Cup in midweek and is their second consecutive victory in the BWIN Liga.

Nacional coach, Carlos Brito, opted to change the line-up as mainstays Avalos and Juliano made way for Fernando Cardozo and Bruno Basto.

The game did not begin well for Nacional, as Academica got on the scoreboard first in the 7th minute as Senegalese striker Dame entered the area and blasted the ball, neatly laid-off by Gelson, past Nacional goalkeeper Diego.

Academica then started to turn on the style and they came close to adding a second in two consecutive opportunities. The first was five minutes after they scored as Gelson found himself alone with a clear shot on goal, only to trip on the ball at the crucial moment.

Then in the 16th minute a good one-two between Dame and Filipe Texeira saw the latter’s shot just graze Diego’s post.

Academica would be left to rue those missed opportunities as Nacional were awarded a penalty in the 42nd minute. Litos was judged to have used his hand to stop the ball inside the box and Nacional’s Bruno stepped up to take the spot-kick and level for the visitors.

Bruno Amaro left Academica with their hearts in their throats before the break as he took a shot from distance, but the ball took a wicked bounce and whisked by Pedro Roma’s left post.

The second half started slowly but Nacional took the lead in the 59th minute as Adriano scored with a header from a Patacas cross that left Pedro Roma with no chance.

The game then turned ugly as Litos was shown straight red card for an unnecessary foul on Nacional’s Bruno. Nacional responded in a positive manner as they got their insurance goal in the 65th minute.

Ricardo Pateiro scored the first goal of his career on his debut. The winger was left alone with only Pedro Roma to beat, and he made Academica pay for some slack defending.

To add insult to injury Academica had their second player sent off as Medeiros collected his second yellow of the night. The Academica coach was at a loss for words as his team have yet to win a game this season. What is more alarming for Machado is the fact that his team are constantly giving up leads in the games they have lost.

“This was the fourth game when we have had the lead and ended up losing. It was like this against Naval, Belenenses, Boavista and Nacional. This is the factor that worries me most. The inability, when we are at an advantage, to be positive and strong to achieve the victory.”

Nacional coach Carlos Brito can breathe a little easier as things are getting better for his team. He felt the win was wholly deserved by his players and felt that the merit belonged to them after having an emotional setback during the week.

“The three points are very important for the group who did not start their campaign well which had an affect on the players,” he said.

Academica:
Pedro Roma, Sonkaya, Lino, Litos, Medeiros, Milos Pavlovic (Nuno Piloto, 62), Roberto Brum, Gelson, Miguel Pedro, Dame (Helder Barbosa, 46), Filipe Texeira (Gyano, 56)
Yellow Cards: Miguel Pedro (20), Milos Pavlovic (23), Medeiros (58, 84)
Red Cards: Litos (64), Medeiros (84)

Nacional:
Diego Banaglio, Patacas, Bruno Basto, Fernando Cardozo, Ricardo Fernandes, Cleber Oliveira, Bruno Amaro (Luciano, 86), Bruno, Jose Vitor, Adriano (Chilikov, 76), Juliano Spadacio (Ricardo Pateiro, 35)
Yellow Cards: Cleber Oliveira (38), Ricardo Fernandes (72)

Goals:
[1-0] Dame, 7
[1-1] Bruno, 42
[1-2] Adraino, 59
[1-3] Ricardo Pateiro, 65