Bwin Liga weekend action round-up

Uniao de Leiria 1-1 Pacos de Ferreira
A tragic end to Pacos de Ferreira’s season as the team will be relegated to the Liga Vitalis next season after allowing Uniao de Leiria to draw 1-1 in a match that Pacos were only seconds away from winning.

A victory for Pacos, coupled with a Leixoes loss, would have meant they would have survived in the Bwin Liga. Pacos may yet be given a reprieve. Should Boavista fail in their appeal against relegation imposed for corruption, Pacos will retain their top-flight status at the expense of the Porto-based team.

Pacos showed grit right from the off as Roversio thundered a header towards goal but Fernando did well to deny the defender in the 3rd minute. In the 28th minute, the guests got what they had so desperately worked for as Cristiano stripped Harison of the ball and charged upfield before backheeling to Edson, who then passed it to William for an easy tap-in. William looked to be offside when he received the ball from Edson, but the goal stood.

Leiria looked more threatening in the second half as Pacos were starting to tense up. The home side almost levelled the scores in the 89th minute, but Tonito’s header rattled the crossbar. It proved a precursor of what was to come as the criminally unmarked Eder scored the tying goal in added time as no one from Pacos knew who to mark, allowing the Leiria forward sneak in and tie the game.

A terrible way to end their season, but with lapses of concentration such as these it is now wonder Pacos find themselves ending the season in the relegation zone.

Leixoes 0-1 Maritimo
Leixoes will stay in the Portuguese top flight for another season, despite losing their match with Maritimo. The Matosinhos needed only a point to ensure their top-flight status.

Leixoes gave it all that the had, knowing what was on the line, and thought that they had scored in the 16th minute, but the goal was rightfully called offside as Roberto was caught behind the defence before knocking the ball into the net. The hosts kept on pressing, but all of their efforts were coming up short allowing anxiety to build on the field, as well as in the stands.

Hearts would be broken in the 59th minute when the Leixoes defence completely broke down and allowed Mossoro to pick up a poor clearance and smack the ball past Jorge Baptista and give the islanders the lead. The visitors almost doubled their advantage in the 89th minute, but Andre Pinto’s goal was ruled out for offside.

Everyone who was in a red and white striped jersey did not leave the stadium upon the final whistle as they were awaiting the result of the match between Uniao de Leiria and Pacos de Ferreira.

A dramatic late equaliser for Leiria sparked wild celebrations as Leixoes’s position in Portugal’s top tier of football was guaranteed.

Sporting Braga 2-1 Academica
Sporting Braga ended their 2007/08 campaign on a winning note as they downed Academica 2-1 at the Estadio AXA. A scoreless first half was broken immediately after the interval as Lito was left unmarked to head a Luis Aguiar corner past Kieszek in the 48th minute.

Braga were back on level terms in the 57th minute when Matheus scored his first goal since returning to the Arsenalistas back in January when he headed a Carlos Fernandes cross past Rui Nereu.

In an entertaining match with both teams threatening all game, it would be the hosts who managed to earn the win in the 80th minute when former Academica striker, Joao Tomas, returning from a lengthy injury, headed a beautiful goal from the middle of the box, right into the top corner to give Braga the 2-1 victory.

Nacional 1-2 Belenenses
After easily disposing of FC Porto last week, Nacional were brought right back down to earth when the lost 2-1 to Belenenses at home. The Blues continued to show good form as they ended their season on a high, but will not make it into Europe due to their six-point deduction for fielding an ineligible player.

The hosts started the brighter of the two teams as Juliano Spadacio came close in the 9th minute and Fabio Coentrao had two bites of the cherry in the 14th minute, but goalkeeper Julio Cesar came up big for the guests, although he needed the help of Edson to clear a Rodrigo effort off the goal line.

Nacional got on the scoreboard first in the 48th minute when in-form forward Fabio Coentrao scored his third goal in two games as the winger tucked away a Rodrigo pass. The lead did not last long as Belenenses’ top goal scorer, Weldon, scored his 13th goal in league play as he tucked a long ball past Bracalli to make it all square.

In the 57th minute the Blues took the lead as Joao Paulo headed a Rafael Bastos cross into the back of Nacional’s net. Things went from bad to worse for the home side as Patacas was shown a red card for shooting his mouth off to the referee. Belenenses could have had a third goal late on, but Bracalli did well to deny an unmarked Weldon a brace.

Naval 0-2 FC Porto
In their first match since the handing out of punishments from operation Final Whistle, the Dragons did not seem to be affected by the latest news as they registered a 2-0 victory away against Naval. A nothing match for both sides as a result either way had no dramatic consequences, with all the scoring coming in the opening half.

The hosts had a glorious opportunity in the 11th minute to open the scoring, but Marinho hit his shot way over the crossbar after taking advantage of some poor defending by the three-time champions. That miss would come back to haunt Naval as Porto scored two quick goals with half time approaching.

Farias headed past Taborda to give the Dragons the lead, and three minutes later the Argentine notched a brace as he was the benefactor of some neat passing between Mariano Gonzalez and Tarik Sektioui and coolly slotted the ball into an open net.


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