21 December 2006, by Sean Gillen

Portuguese trio shine as Chelsea win again

Portuguese Abroad midweek round-up

Chelsea advanced into the semi-finals of the English Carling Cup after another Didier Drogba goal was enough to beat Newcastle at St. James’ Park. The Ivorian striker came off the bench to replace the again miss-firing Andriy Shevchenko, and curled home a superb free-kick to send the Blues through.

Jose Mourinho recalled Paulo Ferreira to the starting line-up at right-back, while Hilario continued in goal. The Portuguese keeper made an important save during the second half, while central defender Ricardo Carvalho impressed in central defence.

Newcastle may well have taken the lead in the first half, but Obafemi Martins’ shot cannoned off the crossbar, but the referee judged that the ball did not cross the line. Drogba came off the bench on 73 minutes, and scored the winner with nine minutes left.

During a full round of league fixtures in Spain, Jorge Andrade made an unhappy return to the Deportivo defence as they were hammered 4-0 by leaders Sevilla. The former Porto defender played the full 90 minutes for his side.

Recreativo produced possibly the biggest shock of the season so far, beating Real Madrid 3-0 at the Bernabeu. Portuguese defender Beto played in central defence for the visitors, as goals from Pongolle, Uche and Vigueira secured a memorable result.

Midfielder Fabio Felicio played the final twenty minutes of Real Sociedad’s 0-0 draw at Celta Vigo, while injury victim Cesar Peixoto again missed out on the Espanyol squad for their 1-0 win at Getafe.

In Italy, Luis Figo set up the second goal as Inter maintained their unbeaten record in Serie A with a 2-0 win at Lazio. The Portuguese winger came off the bench with just over 15 minutes left, and his corner was headed in by Marco Materazzi to add to Esteban Cambiasso’s first half strike.

Fernando Couto was injured as Parma drew 1-1 at Messina to stay in 18th place, while Ricardo Esteves played the last half hour of fellow strugglers Reggina’s 3-2 defeat to Chievo.

Alex’s Wolfsburg and Fernando Meira’s Stuttgart both progressed from the third round of the German DFB Pokal cup. Wolfsburg beat Greuther Furth 3-1 away from home, while Stuttgart breezed past Bochum with a 4-1 victory.

Star Performer

Beto

Recreativo are enjoying a superb return to the Spanish top flight, and former Sporting man Beto was part of a flawless backline as they recorded the result of their season, a 3-0 win at Real Madrid.

Earlier round-ups:
18/12/06 Star Performer - Maniche
11/12/06 Star Performer - Ronaldo
04/12/06 Star Performer - Deco
27/11/06 Star Performer - Ricardo Carvalho
20/11/06 Star Performer - Maniche
13/11/06 Star Performer - Ze Castro
09/11/06 Star Performer - Hugo Viana
06/11/06 Star Performer - Carlitos
30/10/06 Star Performer - Hilario
26/10/06 Star Performer - Hilario
23/10/06 Star Performer - Manuel da Costa
16/10/06 Star Performer - Tiago
02/10/06 Star Performer - Cristiano Ronaldo
25/09/06 Star Performer - Cristiano Ronaldo
18/09/06 Star Performer - Sergio Conceicao
11/09/06 Star Performer - Ricardo Carvalho
28/08/06 Star Performer - Figo
21/08/06 Star Performer - Deco