Guimaraes go third after derby victory

V. Guimaraes 1-0 Braga

Vitoria de Guimaraes continued their sensational start to the season by beating local rivals Braga 1-0 to move up to third place in the table.

A goal from Geromel in the 51st minute earned the home team all three points and maintained the northern club’s unbeaten start to the season intact.

Manuel Cajuda’s team have adapted to life back in the top division remarkably smoothly following their promotion last season. And the majority of the big crowd at the Dom Afonso Henriques stadium were delighted to see their team completely boss the first half against their bitter local rivals.

An excellent all-round display merited a half-time lead for Guimaraes, but Braga were saved twice by the woodwork as efforts from Alan and Geromel bounced back into play after striking the goal-frame.

Disputed goal

Braga reacted at the start of the second period and appeared to be getting back into the match, but the Arsenalistas were then hit by a controversial goal.

A corner was met by Geromel, who sent a looping header over goalkeeper Dani Mallo. As the ball was dropping into the net Andres Madrid managed to head the ball clear with a last-gasp clearance, but the linesman ruled that the ball had already crossed the goal line.

Braga reacted well to the goal and began to apply heavy pressure on the home defence in search of an equaliser. That pressure increased further when Fajardo was sent off for elbowing Jorginho.

In the dying minutes Jose Manuel was a whisker away from grabbing a point for the visitors but his rasping drive hit the crossbar and the home fans breathed a sigh of relief.

A deserved victory for Guimaraes will further raise morale ahead of next weekend’s trip to Sporting, while Braga will be desperate to snap out of a poor run of four defeats and a draw in their last five matches as they attempt to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Hammarby in the Uefa Cup on Thursday.

Guimaraes:
Nilson, Andrezinho, Sereno, Geromel, Luciano Amaral, Flavio Meireles, Fajardo, Joao Alves (Carlitos, 89), Alan (Moreno, 79), Mrdakovic (Ghilas, 68), Desmarets
Yellow Cards: Alan, Luciano Amaral
Red Card: Fajardo, 76

Braga:
Dani Mallo, Joao Pereira, Paulo Jorge, Frechaut, Cesar Peixoto, Vandinho (Jose Manuel, 70), Andres Madrid, Joao Pinto (Jailson, 63), Jorginho, Linz, Wender (Hussain, 70)
Yellow Cards: Vandinho, Andres Madrid, Jorginho, Cesar Peixoto

Goals:
[1-0] Geromel, 52