 |
 |
 |
| Sunday, 23 October 2011 21:24 |
Liga round-up: Porto back on trackWins for Rio Ave, Maritimo and Braga FC Porto rebounded from their sub-par performance at home to APOEL in emphatic fashion this evening, putting Nacional to the sword at the Dragao. Goals from Defour, Walter, Sapunaru, Kleber and Hulk eased the pressure on Vitor Pereira. Elsewhere, there were wins for Rio Ave, Maritimo, and Braga.
Vitor Pereira made a host of changes from the midweek game, with Otamendi, Guarin, Moutinho, James and Kleber dropping to the bench. Mangala, Defour, Belluschi, Varela and Walter came into the starting XI. Driving rain meant that both teams needed a few minutes to settle down, but once they had done so, Porto took control of the game fairly quickly. Belluschi was a lively presence throughout, and combined well with Hulk (who sported a newly-bleached haircut) on a number of occasions. The opening goal arrived in the 24th minute. Defour received the ball just outside the box, and some slack Nacional marking allowed the Belgian to turn and face the goal. His shot was travelling in the right direction, but a wicked deflection off Neto saw the ball loop away from Marcelo and into the back of the net.  Mario Rondon struck the side-netting moments later, but any notions of a Nacional comeback were quashed five minutes before half time, when Walter scored his sixth goal in three matches. The Brazilian diverted Rolando’s header into the net from close range, though replays indicated he was clearly offside. The second half unfolded in the same manner as the first, with the home side in complete control. Nacional’s apparent lack of concern at their predicament will have worried Ivo Vieira, as the Madeira club seemed content to keep the score down. In the end, they were unable to accomplish even that. Marcelo somehow kept out an exceptional free kick from Belluschi, but his defence let him down by not arriving to clear, and Sapunaru was left free to tap home from two yards out.  The final flourish was applied in the closing stages. Guarin and Moutinho (both of whom had come on as substitutes) were the creators, the former finding the latter with a slide-rule pass, and Moutinho then squaring for Kleber (another substitute) to put the ball in an empty net. Hulk than added a fifth with seconds remaining, beating the unfortunate Marcelo with a delicate curling chip. The result sees Porto keep pace with Benfica at the top of the table, with the two rivals locked together on twenty points. The Dragons’ next outing comes on Friday, at home to Pacos de Ferreira. Nacional slip down to 13th. Porto: Helton; Sapunaru, Rolando, Mangala, Alvaro Pereira; Fernando, Defour (Guarin, 72’), Belluschi (Moutinho, 72’); Hulk, Walter (Kleber, 78’), Varela. Goals [1-0] Defour, 24’ [2-0] Walter, 40’ [3-0] Sapunaru, 67’ [4-0] Kleber, 90’ [5-0] Hulk, 90’ Rio Ave 2-0 Leiria Goals from Vitor Gomes and Joao Tomas were enough to give Rio Ave their first victory of the season over fellow strugglers UD Leiria. Carlos Brito’s side have endured a nightmare start, but had enough about them this afternoon to overcome Manuel Cajuda and company. The win sees Rio Ave climb off the bottom of the table, though they remain in the drop zone. Leiria are in 14th. The good news was tempered by another injury to Tomas (pictured) during stoppage time. Maritimo 1-0 SetubalBaba’s seventh goal of the season sent Maritimo into 3rd place, albeit temporarily, as the Madeira side handed Vitoria de Setubal their second straight loss. The Senegalese hitman shows no signs of losing form, and gave the home side the lead after just two minutes. Setubal rallied during the second half but were unable to trouble Pecanha, and slide down to 8th.Braga 3-0 Feirense Braga returned to winning ways after being held by Maribor on Thursday, with a comfortable home victory over Feirense. Nuno Gomes crashed home at the back post in the thirteenth minute after peeling away from his marker, and although Feirense had their chances both sides of the interval, the home side were always in control. Alan added a gorgeous second with twenty-five minutes remaining, chipping Paulo Lopes from well outside the box whilst under pressure from his marker. Ewerton added a third fifteen minutes later, powering home from a pinpoint Hugo Viana corner. Round 8 concludes on Monday evening, with Sporting hosting Gil Vicente at the Alvalade. Ben Shave |
I actually spoke about how sad what is going on at Guimaraes. Once again, somebody's pocket got fuller while the club and fans suffer.
Since you mentioned it, I have a soft spot for Guimaraes due to how loyal and how hard the fans root. I also had a soft spot for Beira Mar (stadio) last season, like I have for Gil Vicente this season. But truth be told I'm really rooting hard for Atletico in Liga de Honra.
By the way most Braga fans will go back to being Porto fans once Braga goes back to losing.
As for who's the better team we'll see.
Btw how is your second favorite club Guimaraes doing ? Siting at the bottom of the table eh??? Wow, NJ, you were right, all that support Guimaraes have really and I mean really matters.
Let's count the ways Benfica is better.
1) History. Despite what you may think, it matters in football. A couple of years of winning football does not make you invicible.
2) Squad value is worth more than double of Braga's.
3) Benfica is 6-2-0 with 20 goals to 8 suffered. Braga is 5-2-1 with 12 goals to 3 suffered.
4) Although Benfica faced Porto on the road, let's make the domestic schedule even. But Benfica's European campaign has been much harder and they haven't suffered a loss yet.
Even if Braga was to knick a point at home vs Benfica it would be coming after Benfica's huge match vs Basel in the CL. Then again Braga has a must win vs Maribor in Europa. I think we can agree that Basel is better than Maribor.
Let me add it's no excuse for Benfica. I don't care if we trot out our second squad, we should beat Braga. That may sound ignorant and dismissive of Braga, but let's be realistic, this Benfica squad is worlds above Braga's.
A tough match? Yes, especially away.
But it should be a win nonetheless.
I think what people don't care for is your comments about other squads that have nothing to do with anything.
How about making relevant comments about Braga. Maybe once you start doing that, other might actually read them without laughing.
Believe in whatever you want, its your foolish comments that get on my nerves.
Funny you were not saying that when Braga knocked out your "Glorioso" out of europe while all of europe watched. We're 3 points from first and I strongly believe we can win and I'm sure Karl and every other Braga fan does too. Thats really all that matters. In about a week and a half Benfica will travel to Braga and if we win I want to see your excuse this time. We've beaten Benfica 4 times straight in Braga, you want to tell me "can't" do it again?
Braga are not the best in portugal and simply wont be thats just how it is, so a Braga supporter acting like their ontop of the world is simply wrong. Benfica did get penalties to beat Guimaraes so what? Does the team that deserves the win always get it, no they dont.
Bryan your the clown because your the one that everybody on this site laughs at.
In my opinion anything above 3,000 vs Feirense will be a good gate. The 6902 would be Braga's lowest gate so far this season.
I do agree with you in regards to Stadio Municipal de Braga being a wonderful venue.
For those who think Nuno Gomes could still play whole matches and be effective, you are in for a rude awakening. I happen to be a huge Nuno fan, but he just won't last, if the minutes remain high.
Great bounce back by Porto. I can only hope that they will get it together for the CL. I know that people keep mentioning the Walter mistake, but I'll trust Pereira when he says this isn't the same Walter as a few months ago.
Maritimo keeps pace. They just be able to continue too for the next 3 weeks.
How long before Leiria is at the bottom of the table. They just might be the first club to reach the 2nd division before the season is out. Maybe I'm being too harsh. I actually admit to being surprised they haven't started at the bottom and remained their.
Beira Mar has only let 3 goals in, but have only scored 3 themselves. Ouch!
On a side note, the scoring title is going to torid this season.
Good to see five different goalscorers too. Hopefully this sends a message out to our rivals that while we might not be as strong as last season, we are still very much the team to beat.
Nuno Gomes was the smartest signing Braga made all summer. A leader and a natural born striker( a difference maker).
It's just good to see Nuno Gomes scoring.