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Liga Sagres weekend action round-up

Leixoes 2-0 Sporting Braga
After a more than convincing win midweek in the Uefa Cup, Sporting Braga came crashing back down to earth with a 2-0 defeat to Leixoes at the Estadio do Mar. Goals either side of the interval by Wesley and Marques, respectively, were enough to see off Jorge Jesus’ men.

The visitors applied all the pressure in the opening half hour, but it would be the hosts who would score from their first opportunity of the match in the 35th minute as Frechaut lost possession of the ball to Roberto Sousa in the forbidden zone. The forward fed Wesley and the striker’s shot deflected off Rodriguez to fool Eduardo and end up in the net.

Shortly before the break Leixoes coach Jose Mota, was thrown out for harshly protesting to the fourth official a Linz handball in the Braga area that was not called.

Minutes after the restart Braga were reduced to ten men as Cesar Peixoto was shown a red card for inappropriate words exchanged with the referee.

It did not take Leixoes long to take advantage of their numerical superiority as Wesley had an effort on goal, which was blocked, but stayed with the play and crossed the ball to Marques who headed the ball into the net in the 58th minute to give the Matosinhos the victory.

Naval 3-1 Trofense
Naval trounced Liga Sagres new boys, Trofense, 3-1 at the Figueira da Foz. With the win, the hosts moved into a four-way tie for second place along with Nacional (who visit Vitoria Guimaraes tonight), Leixoes and Academica, all with six points. The game marked the debut of Trofense’s Tiago Pinto, son of Portuguese legend Joao Vieria Pinto.

The match really got started mid-way through the first half as the home side opened the scoring in the 21st minute when Dudu headed in a rebound past Paulo Lopes. Naval doubled their advantage one minute later as Marcelinho was the benefactor of as series for unfortunate events for the visitors as Paulo Lopes, who had the ball in his grasp, tripped over his team-mate Miguel Angelo. Marcelinho was Johnny-on-the-spot to tap the loose ball into the open net to make it 2-0.

Trofense managed to pull one goal back in the 24th minute as Miguel Angelo headed a Pinheiro free kick past Jorge Baptista. Naval would own the rest of the half as the team showed good attacking prowess, but could not find the back of the Trofense net.

Right after the break, Marinho flubbed a glorious opportunity to restore the hosts’ 2-goal advantage, but the Naval forward could not convert his opportunity when he went in all alone with Paulo Lopes. Naval would seal their victory in the 89th minute as the team were awarded a penalty for a foul against Simplicio. Hauw stepped up to convert the spot shot and made no mistake to ensure the home side earned all three points.

Academica 1-0 Vitoria Setubal
Academica registered their second consecutive victory as it took one solitary goal to get past Vitoria Setubal. A late Cleber penalty was enough to down the visiting Sadinos. After a draw midweek in the Uefa Cup, Vitoria failed to capitalise on the opportunity to secure second place with the defeat.

Early on in the match Bruno Vale almost gave the hosts a gift as the Vitoria goalkeeper misplayed the ball with his feet and kicked it straight to Lito. The striker then fed a pass to his team-mate, Garces, but the Panamanian international could not make good on the gross error and ended up missing the net.

Both teams would exchange half chances throughout the match with the next good scoring opportunity occurring in the 57th minute when second-half substitute Bruno Gama found himself alone against Peskovic, but the Academica goalkeeper did well to deny the Portuguese U21 starlet.

Academica were awarded a penalty with less than fifteen minutes left in the match as Cissokho fouled Diogo Gomes in the Vitoria box. Cleber stepped up to do the honours and made no mistake sending Bruno Vale the wrong way, giving the Students the win.

Estrela da Amadora 0-0 Maritimo
A match to forget at the Reboleira as Estrela da Amadora and Maritimo played themselves to a scoreless draw. A very boring encounter with neither team creating any clear-cut opportunities on goal. With all the off-season acquisitions Maritimo made, the club have not had an impressive start to their domestic campaign as they secured their first point in three outings.

As for Amadora, the hosts gained their fourth point in their first three matches and move into a three-way tie for fourth place with Vitoria Guimaraes (who play Nacional tonight) and Vitoria Setubal.


Related: Rio Ave 0-0 FC Porto - match report
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