Braga continued their excellent season with a 2-1 victory against Sion in Switzerland to take a big step towards the last 16 of the Europa League.
The Arsenalistas may well be the only Portuguese representative left at that stage of the competition, as FC Porto and Sporting both lost to German opposition.
Porto fell to a 2-0 defeat at Borussia Dortmund while Sporting also lost, 1-0 at home to Bayer Leverkusen at Alvalade.
Borussia Dortmund 2-0 FC Porto
FC Porto will have a mountain to climb in the second leg of their Europa League round of 32 tie after losing 2-0 away to Borussia Dortmund in the Westfalenstadion.
Goals from Łukasz Piszczek and Marco Reus were all Thomas Tuchel’s side required to turn a dominant display into a comfortable victory against a defensively depleted Porto squad, as the Germans take a 2-0 aggregate lead to the Estádio do Dragão for the return leg next week.
The win sees Dortmund continue their proud tradition of never losing to Portuguese opposition at home, as they faced ‘Os Dragões’ for the first time in the club’s 106-year history.
Line-ups
For the trip to the Westfalenstadion, Porto would be without Maxi Pereira and Danilo Pereira through suspension, meanwhile the club failed to register 19-year-old Chidozie Awaziem for European competitions. With captain Maicon joining São Paulo on loan, Iván Marcano’s failure to recover from his injury shortened Porto’s defensive options further, as Diogo Verdasco received a rare call-up to the match-day squad.
The central defender could only make the bench, however, as Peseiro chose to experiment with his defence once more. Portuguese winger Silvestre Varela was pegged back to start on the right hand of defence, whereas Miguel Layún partnered Bruno Martins Indi at centre back and José Ángel was drafted back into the first team.
Dortmund made just the one change from the habitual line-up that’s racked up an impressive 53 goals in the Bundesliga this season, welcoming back the injured Nuri Şahin in place of key man İlkay Gündoğan.
Germans bite early
The game commenced just as many Porto fans had feared, as Dortmund penetrated the visitors’ makeshift defence early through Marcel Schemlzer’s low cross to danger man Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, eventually cleared over Casillas’ goal for a corner.
‘Os Dragões’ continued to look fairly dazed as they failed to react to the quick corner from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, with the Armenian subsequently assisting Łukasz Piszczek in the 6th minute. The right back’s close range volley was initially saved by Casillas, but the Spaniard could do little else to prevent the Dortmund man heading in the rebound.
Porto managed to safeguard their defence and present a conservative approach throughout much of the first half, with Dortmund enjoying a lengthy spell of possession in response. The club from North Rhine-Westphalia had to wait until the 33rd minute before gaining another clear sight of goal, as good work down the left flank between Schmelzer and Reus led to a cutback for Shinji Kagawa, only for the former Manchester United man to skew his shot wide from inside the box.
Sérgio Oliveira provided the Blue and Whites with their first shot on target in the 35th minute, an effort that was comfortably held by Roman Bürki as the game drifted into half time.
Déjà vu
The second half presented the fans with much of the same throughout the initial stages, as Dortmund remained patient in possession against Porto’s defensive structure. The Germans did, however, begin to turn the tap again shortly after the one hour mark, as two half-volleys from Kagawa and Reus across the box offered Peseiro’s men a warning in the 63rd minute.
Kagawa found himself at the centre of yet another attack for Dortmund moments later, roaming inside to switch the ball to Mkhitaryan who laid it off expertly for Reus’ first time finish in the 71st minute, going in off a Martins Indi deflection.
More space for Dortmund to attack began to appear with the eventual reaction from Porto, allowing Mkhitaryan the time to slip Kagawa through on goal and forcing Casillas to make a save at his near post in the 83rd minute.
The tie was then almost placed out of Porto’s reach just two minutes later when Mkhitaryan’s powerful header was crucially pushed onto the post by Casillas’ fingertips, with Dortmund eventually settling for a 2-0 victory.
by Patrick Ribeiro
Starting Line-ups
Borussia Dortmund: Roman Bürki – Marcel Schmelzer, Mats Hummels, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Łukasz Piszczek – Julian Weigl, Nuri Şahin – Marco Reus, Shinji Kagawa, Henrikh Mkhitaryan – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
FC Porto: Iker Casillas - José Ángel, Bruno Martins Indi, Miguel Layún, Silvestre Varela – Rúben Neves, Héctor Herrera, Sérgio Oliveira – Yacine Brahimi, Moussa Marega – Vincent Aboubakar
Sporting 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Sporting slumped to a disappointing defeat at Alvalade against Bayer Leverkusen to seriously compromise their hopes of making the latter stages of the competition.
Coach Jorge Jesus has made it abundantly clear his overriding priority this season is to win the Primeira Liga, and the strategy was reflected in the fact that captain Adrien and main striker Islam Slimani began the match on the bench, replaced respectively by Aquilani and Teo Gutiérrez.
And it seemed the idea that the next match against Boavista on Monday was the one that mattered had infiltrated into the minds of Sporting's players, as a lacklustre display ended in a 1-0 defeat that flattered the home side.
Bayer were the more incisive, well organised and committed side throughout the 90 minutes. The Germans looked the more dangerous team from the start of the game, but it was Bayer goalkeeper Bernd Leno who was first called into serious action, beating out a fierce Jefferson shot.
Classy goal breaks the deadlock
But that was an isolated chance for the hosts as the Lions struggled to find any penetration. Close to the half hour mark the visitors took the lead with a beautifully worked goal. A series of quick passes saw the ball worked from the left to the right flank, where Jedvaj produced a peach of a cross that Bellarabi turned in from close range.
The goal did not change the pattern of the match, and even when Jorge Jesus brought on Slimani and Adrien with around 25 minutes left the Bundesliga side always looked the most likely to score.
Mehmedi and substitute Papadopoulos twice came close to scoring, and things got worse for Sporting when young centre-back Rúben Semedo - already on a yellow card - recklessly crashed into the back of Bellarabi and left the referee with no choice but to brandish the second yellow and respective red.
Almost immediately Mehmedi forced a sharp save from Patrício and the irrepressible Bellarabi then showed some sublime skill to engineer a shooting opportunity and crash a curling effort onto the post from 20 yards out.
"If you asked Sporting fans what they want to win, 98% of them would say the championship was the competition that should not be put at risk," said Jorge Jesus in the post-match press conference. That said it all.
by Tom Kundert, at Alvalade
Sion 1-2 Braga
Braga secured a hard fought 2-1 win against Sion at the Stade de Tourbillon in Switzerland. Clinical finishing was the difference as the Portuguese were efficient in front of goal, Nikola Stojiljković and Rafa Silva netting the goals either side of Moussa Konaté’s equaliser.
Paulo Fonseca named Wilson Eduardo at right-back with Willy Boly partnering André Pinto in central defence. Konaté began the match looking dangerous before Braga enjoyed their first spell of possession from which they capitalised. Pinto’s long ball bounced invitingly for Stojiljković, the striker connecting with a sweet volley which flew past Vanins.
Sion press for equaliser
Sion continued to look for Konaté before Didier Tholot made an early change for the hosts, Ebenezer Assifuah replacing Lacroix. Assifuah was soon in the action, shooting wide from a difficult angle before Konaté had Sion’s best effort tipped behind by Matheus.
Assifuah surged into the box after fine skill to beat Baiano with Pinto blocking his attempt. Willy Boly lost possession for Braga in a dangerous area, the ball falling to Konaté who shot well wide.
Sion continued to pressure Braga before the break with Salatić volleying wide. Konaté chipped a nice pass to Assifuah who shot across the goal for another wasted chance, Braga holding onto a slim 1-0 advantage.
Sion came out for the second half and continued to press, Fernandes’ shot deflected for a corner from which Assifuah shot weakly at Matheus. Rafa Silva appeared hungry for the ball but Sion wouldn’t be denied. Konaté isolated Boly who couldn’t match the Senegalese striker’s skills as he stepped inside and beat Matheus with the slightest of deflections.
Rafa snatches win
Braga’s goalkeeper was soon back in the action with a fine save from a Carlitos free kick but minutes later instigated Braga’s reply. Matheus’ ball to Baiano came inside to Luis Carlos who passed forward to Rafa Silva, the 22 year old quickly finding space and blasting a fine strike past Venins.
Silva’s attempt had been Braga’s second of the game at that point with the hosts recording 13. Fonseca replaced Alan with Pedro Santos before Konaté shot at Matheus, Follonier and Gekas off the bench for Sion. Rafa Silva remained in the action, his tame shot tipped behind before Sion threatened with Gekas testing Matheus with a sharp strike.
Josue replaced Koka and Fonseca was attempting another substitution late on which led to a bizarre red card. Vukčević was apparently being substituted but ended up receiving his second yellow card and was controversially dismissed. Ferreira eventually replaced Stojiljković as Braga clinched victory.
Moussa Konaté followed the script, a constant threat up front and a fine goal but he and Assifuah were otherwise wasteful. Rafa Silva deservedly produced the winning goal which confirms his status as Braga’s star player. The Portuguese side are in the box seat ahead of the return leg at the Estádio AXA next week.
by Matthew Marshall
