The two Saturday games in the Liga ZON Sagres saw home wins for Braga and Sporting against Nacional and Vitoria Setubal respectively. Nuno Gomes was again among the goals as Braga lent more credence to the belief they will continue to fight for honours alongside the traditional powerhouses of Portuguese football, while Sporting turned in a scintillating display to brush aside the Sadinos at the Alvalade.

Braga 2-0 Nacional

Braga took full advantage of their opportunity to draw level with FC Porto and Benfica at the top of the league this evening. A goal in each half from Nuno Gomes and Paulo Vinicius gave the Arsenalistas a 2-0 victory at home to Nacional.

It was the visitors who enjoyed the brighter start, with Mateus forcing Quim into a sharp double save midway through the first half. The close shave woke up Braga, and Hugo Viana and Helder Barbosa came close to giving the hosts the lead in quick succession. A goal looked in the offing for Braga, and Nuno Gomes duly obliged in the 33rd minute. A fine move saw the ball moved from Alan to Baiano to the veteran striker, who made not mistake.

Nacional came out strongly in the second half, with Skolnik, Rondon and Mateus all desperately close to scoring an equaliser. But Braga's defence somehow survived, and the islanders were made to pay for their profligacy when Paulo Vinicius headed in from an Alan corner to make sure of the points.

Leonardo Jardim's team now have an impressive 14 points from their first six games of the season, which gives them a share of a three-way tie at the top of the Liga ZON Sagres table.  Nacional, on the other hand, are falling way below expectations, and have now lost four of their opening six games.

Goals:
[1-0] Nuno Gomes, 33
[2-0] Paulo Vinicius, 83

Sporting 3-0 Vitoria Setubal

An action-packed opening 15-minute period in Lisbon resulted in three goals for Sporting and a comfortable win against Vitoria de Setubal. It was a case of double Dutch for the hosts, with Schaars and a van Wolfswinkel brace doing the damage.

As in Sporting's last match, the Lions opened the scoring within the first two minutes. Andre Carrillo picked up the ball on the halfway line before making a skilful and surging run towards goal. His shot rebounded from goalkeeper Diego Silva into the path of Stijn Schaars, who put Sporting ahead from close range.

Rui Patricio did not paint himself in glory in Sporting's last match and had an embarrassing moment not long after the opening goal. Alberto Rodriguez's sloppy back pass meant Patricio was forced to clear a tough ball and his kick was blocked by Joao Silva. The on-loan Everton forward went close to scoring after rounding Patricio but Fabian Rinaudo was there to clear the ball off the line. Silva then found himself bearing down on Rui Patricio's goal, but the Portugal goalkeeper redeemed himself by getting a strong arm down to deflect away Silva's shot.

Setubal were soon made to pay for their missed chances as just a minute later Joao Pereira brought the ball out of defence and played in Ricky van Wolfswinkel down the channel. The Dutchman still had lots to do but managed to take the ball into the area before blasting a shot into the rough of the net from a tight angle.

To their credit Setubal continued to play and came close to scoring again on the 10 minute mark. A free kick from all of 35 yards was magnificently struck by Claudio Pitbull and clattered onto the Sporting bar with the goalkeeper helpless at their sheer speed and power of the Brazilian's shot.

Emphatic Wolfwinkel finish

Vitoria de Setubal could have scored 3 goals by this time and were once again made to pay. Stijn Schaars passed a corner low to Andre Carrillo on the outside of the box, whose completely miscued shot fell at the feet of Ricky van Wolfswinkel. The in-form striker made no mistake by smashing the ball emphatically into the roof of the net to put Sporting 3-0 up after just 15 minutes. It was van Wolfswinkel's 5th goal in Sporting's last four games.

The rest of the half failed to live up to the frantic pace of the first 15 minutes and the game gradually became less open with Sporting starting to look more secure at the back. Sporting's three-goal cushion meant they no longer needed to be as ruthless going forward and only a couple of long range strikes, Stijn Schaars in particular forcing Diego Silva into a good save, made up the rest of the half's chances.

Domingos Paciencia will no doubt have reminded his players of the need to avoid complacency after letting a two-goal lead slip in Sporting's last game. But the Lions looked in no danger of letting this one slip and van Wolfswinkel in particular will feel greatly aggrieved at having failed to find a goal in the second half as a plethora of clear chances fell his way. Andre Carrillo and Diego Capel were also unable to find a 4th goal for the home side from very presentable opportunities.

Setubal failed to create much during the second half though Ney Santos' effort forced a great save out of Rui Patricio, and Joao Silva lost his footing after a neat turn had engineered a clear sight of goal. However, Sporting's defence looked far more assured than in recent games. This was by far Sporting's best performance of the season and the only minor concern will be that Sporting did not in fact score more goals. Ricky van Wolfswinkel in particular will be annoyed with himself for not having left the Alvalade with a hat-trick and the match ball.

The victory sees Sporting move to within three points of the leading trio, and four straight wins would appear the perfect preparation for a big European night on Thursday, as the Lisbon club welcome Lazio to the Alvalade in the Europa League.

Goals:
[1-0] Schaars, 2
[2-0] van Wolfswinkel, 8
[2-0] van Wolfswinkel, 15

by Tom Kundert & Richard Cole

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