Gameweek 22 entered with an intense rubbing of the hands from the northern sector of Portugal, especially after Friday night’s showing from Nuno Espírito Santo’s FC Porto side, who welcomed Tondela, currently at the foot of the table, to the Estádio do Dragão.
The hosts didn’t disappoint the home crowd and powered their way to the top of the Liga NOS table, albeit momentarily, via a 4-0 victory, as they waited in anticipation for Benfica’s potentially tricky away fixture versus Sporting de Braga.
Between both fixtures and still in the distance of this race for the title, Sporting were matched up against Rio Ave in a game that marked Rui Patrício’s 400th appearance for the Lions. The goalkeeper put the occasion to good use, as his team came away with a 1-0 win to hold onto third place.
With the baton placed firmly within the Eagles’ grasp, Benfica kept up with the pace of their rivals – just – thanks to Kostas Mitroglou’s winner in the 80th minute that defined a hard-earned 1-0 victory for the current league leaders. Here’s how the action unfolded.
FC Porto 4-0 Tondela
Porto may be in the thick of things in the upper echelons of the league table, but that didn’t stop Nuno resting the likes of Danilo Pereira and Yacine Brahimi for the midweek tie against Serie A high-flyers Juventus in the UEFA Champions League.
The feel-good factor of five wins on the bounce remained, however, with new boy Tiquinho Soares looking to alter the scoreboard as early as the 4th minute with a headed attempt that was palmed wide by Cláudio Ramos.
Tondela’s goalkeeper was called into action once more in the 27th minute when André André picked out Otavio with a short pass, but the Brazilian playmaker couldn’t beat Ramos.
A dose of controversy soon followed, as referee Luis Ferreira took Soares’ side in his appeals for a penalty; a gift put to good use by André Silva who put Porto ahead in the 43rd minute from the spot.
Having already picked up a yellow for the alleged foul inside the box, Osorio was unfortunate enough to collide with Soares once more on the brink of half time. Replays showed that it was the actually the Porto forward who had struck Osorio in the face, but in a time of ‘alternative facts’, the referee dipped back into his pocket to send the Tondela man off for obstruction.
To kick-start the second period, Soares came agonisingly close to doubling Porto’s lead in the 47th minute, as his toe-poke one-on-one with the keeper skipped past the wrong side of the post.
The Dragons came racing towards goal just a minute later, as Jesús Corona squared a pass, again with only the goalkeeper in sight, for André Silva to grab a brace, but the young striker couldn’t maintain his balance when shooting wide with his left foot.
Neves thunderbolt
Rúben Neves then did from far what his compatriot failed to do from close range in the 54th minute, with the midfielder bringing the stadium to its feet with a purposeful right-footed strike into the top corner from 25 yards out.
With Tondela shell-shocked, Corona attempted to lay it on the plate for another of his teammates at the back-post, but this time it was Otavio who failed to hit the target with half of the goal gaping.
In the 63rd minute, Soares made it all look so simple when cutting inside to place his shot into the far corner, putting Porto 3-0 up and adding a fourth to his personal account since joining his new club.
The title hopefuls saved their best move for the outro, as one-touch-football between Óliver Torres and André Silva saw Diogo Jota sing from the same hymn sheet and lash a first-time-volley beyond the goalkeeper’s reach, concluding a 4-0 victory.
Sporting 1-0 Rio Ave
Talk of the title is quite some way away from the Estádio José Alvalade, but the fans had their own unique attraction in the form of Rui Patrício’s 400th appearance for the Lions.
Rio Ave’s early dominance will have brought a great deal of suffering to the stands, but Patrício, in hindsight, didn’t mind too much on his special day, as he collected the first shot on goal from Gonçalo Paciência in the 11th minute with a great deal of comfort.
The visitors were in behind the Sporting defence just two minutes later through Filip Krovinovic, but the Croatian’s shot from a tight angle was also dealt with by the Portugal number one.
Jorge Jesus’ side came close to replicating the horror own-goal that placed them a goal down away to Moreirense last week, as an under-pressure Ezequiel Schelotto almost lobbed his own keeper, but Patrício remained privy to the Italian’s intervention and hooked the ball back into Sporting’s control.
Somewhat against the run of play, William Carvalho served as the driving force behind the hosts’ quick counter in the 20th minute, setting up Gelson Martins for a failed shot at Rio Ave’s Cássio, but the rebound was converted by Alan Ruiz for his third goal in as many games for the Lisbon outfit.
‘Saint’ Patrício
The team from Vila do Conde retaliated through Ruben Ribeiro’s arced effort from range, but Patrício continued to stay true to the good form that’s made him a fan favourite over the years with another top save.
January’s Player of the Month, Bas Dost, could’ve contributed yet another goal to add to his collection in the 40th minute, but Gelson’s low cross proved to be a stretch too far for the Dutchman waiting to tap home Sporting’s second of the night.
As the occasions dried up in the second half, Rio Ave were keen to dish out one more ‘heart in the mouth’ moment for their hosts, as Roderick’s equaliser in the 92nd minute, but he was flagged offside by the linesman just as Alvalade threatened to freeze.
Sp. Braga 0-1 Benfica
Good form has evaded Jorge Simão’s side for a hot minute, a team that the manager claims will be aiming to break the three-way-monopoly in Portugal and take the league title for themselves by 2020, so in Benfica they had the chance to lay down a law of their own at the Quarry.
With Benfica needing a win, Braga came close to piling on the pressure through Pedro Santos early on, as the winger’s volley from inside the box crashed against the side-netting of Júlio César’s goal.
The visitors looked to rise to the challenge and grabbed the goal they so desired in the 23rd minute through Kostas Mitroglou, but the linesman’s flag deducted the score back to 0-0.
Benfica’s main man for the night took centre stage once more in the 28th minute, courtesy of Rafa Silva’s cross, but the Greek striker directed his half-volley over in Marafona’s off-putting presence.
Only the post stood between Braga and the lead at the other end, as Rodrigo Battaglia rose highest in the 37th minute to power a header across goal and kiss the frame of the net with his attempt.
The intensity of the first-half withered away following the interval, meaning that it wasn’t until the 76th minute that the deadlock came close to disintegrating, as Rodrigo Pinho rounded off a quick Braga counter-attack with a tame shot into Júlio César’s grasp.
Inspiration was scarce as the clock ticked down, but Benfica had been stuck in these sorts of situations before over the years and, sure enough, Mitroglou was right on cue to pull another set of three points out of the hat.
With the ball at the striker’s feet and back to goal, Mitroglou managed to squeeze between Pedro Santos and Marcelo Goiano inside the box before dispatching the winner past Marafona in the 80th minute, taking Benfica back up to first place on 54 points.
Last season an epic title race went right to the wire as Benfica pipped Sporting to the Liga NOS crown. This year the Portuguese Championship again appears set for a thrilling two-horse race. Who will come out on top? To have a flutter use this bonus code on Bet365.
By Patrick Ribeiro
Gameweek 22
FC Porto 4-0 Tondela
Moreirense 1-1 Estoril
Chaves 2-0 Arouca
Feirense 0-1 Boavista
Sporting 1-0 Rio Ave
P. Ferreira 2-1 Vit. Setúbal
Belenenses 1-1 Vit. Guimarães
Sp. Braga 0-1 Benfica
Monday
Marítimo - Nacional
