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Profligate Renteria lets Guimaraes off the hook

Vitoria de Guimaraes 0-0 Sporting Braga

In another highly anticipated clash of the round, Vitoria Guimaraes and Sporting Braga played themselves to a nil-nil draw in the Minhoto derby. The result sees Guimaraes stay in mid-table while Braga creep above the relegation zone with five points from five encounters.

The Arsenalistas are not enjoying the strong start to the championship they had hoped for after the hefty close-season investment. With the raised level of expectations following the appointment of Jorge Jesus as head coach and a host of summer signings, Braga continue to confound fans with their poor position in the table.

It was all Vitoria for the opening quarter of the match with full-backs Amaral and Andrezinho exploiting the flanks. But Braga gradually started to get a foothold in the match and Alan grazed Nilson’s post with a low drive.

Renteria-Nilson battle

Braga striker Renteria missed a glorious opportunity to open the scoring in the 29th minute as the Colombian completely fluffed his chance when one-on-one against Nilson.

Just before the break Alan almost nicked a goal for Braga as the former FC Porto player’s shot deflected off a Guimaraes defender, fooling Nilson, but the ball trickled out of play.

Renteria took centre stage again in the 62nd minute as he had another bite of the cherry when he went in all alone against Nilson, but the striker could not make good on his chance as the Vitoria goalkeeper came up huge to thwart the forward.

It was a night to forget for the Colombian as the marksman missed another opportunity to score minutes later. He had all the time in the world to pick Nilson off, but dithered in releasing a shot and allowed his pocket to be picked by the Vitoria defence.

Braga will look at Renteria with daggers in their eyes for all the missed opportunities, but can come away with the fact that the team played very well in a difficult stadium to earn a point in.

As for Guimaraes, having recently been ousted of the Uefa Cup, Manuel Cajuda’s team will now put all their efforts into their domestic challenges as they look to build on a miraculous third-place finish last season.