20 March 2006, by Sean Gillen

Portuguese Abroad round-up

Goal-happy Portuguese enjoy productive weekend

There were plenty of Portuguese goalscorers this week in Europe, with players in England, Italy and France all hitting the back of the net for their respective clubs.

Perhaps the most notable strike came from Luis Boa Morte, the Fulham captain, scoring the winner to shock Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea. Pedro Mendes was also on target, following up his double last week with another excellent long-range strike in Portsmouth’s 4-2 win at West Ham. Cristiano Ronaldo was in good form as Manchester United beat West Brom and Ricardo Vaz Te started for Bolton as they beat Sunderland 2-0.

In France, Pauleta was back amongst the goals as PSG hammered Auxerre. Tiago watched from the bench as Lyon won 4-0 at Sochaux but Helder Postiga was unable to stop St Etienne from losing 2-0 at home to Strasbourg. Beto played as Bordeaux drew 1-1 at Troyes.

In Serie A, Luis Figo scored Inter’s first in a 3-1 win against Lazio. Rui Costa remained on the bench as Milan beat Udinese 4-0, for whom Jose Vidigal came on as a late sub. Fernando Couto missed Parma’s 2-1 win at Lecce.

In La Liga, Barcelona included Deco as they cruised to a 2-0 win at Real Sociedad. Valencia missed Miguel as they went down 2-1 at Racing Santander and Duda played for Malaga as they lost to a last-minute goal at home to Zaragoza.

In Germany, Fernando Meira played the full match as Stuttgart drew 1-1 at Gladbach and Ricardo Sousa stayed on the bench for Hannover’s 1-0 win over Cologne.

Jorge Costa and Sergio Conceição played as Standard Liege kept up with leaders Anderlecht with a 1-0 win over Racing Genk in Belgium.

Star Performer

Luis Boa Morte

The Fulham captain was on hand to score the most important goal of his side’s season as they shocked Chelsea and claimed a crucial three points in the local derby. A timely reminder to Luiz Filipe Scolari as the Portugal coach ponders his World Cup squad.

Earlier round-ups:
20/02/06 Star Performer - Miguel
27/02/06 Star Performer - Cristiano Ronaldo
06/03/06 Star Performer - Sérgio Conceição
13/03/06 Star Performer - Pedro Mendes