Portugal Under-20 international midfielder Domingos Quina scored his first Premier League goal this weekend for Watford in their 3-2 win over Cardiff City. Rafael Leão was also on target for Lille in France, making it an exiting weekend for two potential Seleção hopefuls.
Elsewhere, Pedro Caixinha’s Cruz Azul lost the Liga MX final to America in Mexico, while José Mourinho’s Manchester United went down 3-1 at arch rivals Liverpool and José Fonte was sent off for Lille. There were also goals this weekend for Cristiano Ronaldo in Italy and Ivan Cavaleiro in England, while Daniel Candeias scored a winner in Scotland and João Amaral bagged a brace in Poland.
Quina off the mark
Former Benfica academy prospect Quina was making just his second Premier League start for Watford on Saturday, having made his full debut last week in their 2-2 draw at Everton. This weekend Watford hosted Cardiff looking to end a run of six games without a victory, and Quina was deployed as one of the two deeper central midfield players in Spanish manager Javi Gracia’s 4-2-2-2 system.
Watford were already 2-0 up in the second half when Quina got the first league goal of his career, steering a shot past Cardiff goalkeeper Neil Etheridge from the edge of the box on 68 minutes. It was Quina’s second goal of the campaign, having scored against Reading in the League Cup back in August, shortly after his arrival at Vicarage Road from West Ham United.
“We have a young player who is showing his level,” Watford boss Gracia said of Quina. “I don't know many things about his past but he's with us and I know what he is able to do. I know his present his good and his future is much better.”
Mourinho’s United beaten at Anfield
José Mourinho has refused to give up on a top four finish in the Premier League, after seeing his Manchester United side beaten 3-1 by Liverpool at Anfield. The sides went in at half time level at 1-1 in Sunday afternoon’s showdown, but two goals from substitute Xherdan Shaqiri gave Liverpool a deserved victory and the defeat leaves United 11 points off 4th placed Chelsea.
“We can still finish fourth,” said the former Porto manager, who started Diogo Dalot at right wing-back but withdrew the youngster at half time. “It’s not easy, but for sure we are going to finish in the top six like all the other historically top teams but the best we can get is the fourth position. Right now we need to look to fifth and probably later we can look to the fourth.”
Cavaleiro helps Wolves run continue
United remain in 6th place in the Premier League, but Wolverhampton Wanderers are just a point behind Mourinho’s men in 7th after clocking up their third straight league win against Bournemouth. Nuno Espírito Santo’s side ran out 2-0 winners at Molineux, with Portuguese forward Ivan Cavaleiro coming off the bench to clinch all three points with the second goal deep into injury time.
“We achieved a third win, but it’s not over, we have to go again,” said Nuno. “Before we were in a bad moment, now we’re in a good moment and it’s important to recognise why. Their character, the way they commit themselves to the work on a daily basis and to the competition. So well done. I’m very proud of the work we do every day. The character took us out of the bad moment.”
Elsewhere in England, Marco Silva praised his Everton side for their character despite losing 3-1 at Manchester City, for whom Bernardo Silva was in the home line-up. “We showed strong character again. We brought it back to 2-1 and had three clear chances to score goals. We have to score more goals if we want to get a different result.”
In the Championship, Sheffield Wednesday’s Marco Matias came off the bench to score in their 2-1 defeat at Swansea City. Matias came on at half time and gave Wednesday the lead, only for Swansea to turn the game with two goals in quick succession on 71 and 72 minutes. Former Nacional forward Matias now has three league goals in the English second tier this season.
Caixinha’s Cruz Azul fall at last hurdle
Huge disappointment for Pedro Caixinha in Mexico after his Cruz Azul side were beaten 2-0 by Club America in the second leg of the Liga MX final. Caixinha’s team had secured a 0-0 draw in the first leg at the Azteca stadium shared by both teams, making them slight favourites ahead of the return leg to secure what would have been their first Mexican championship in 21 years.
However, two goals from America defender Edson Alvarez in the second half punished a goal-shy Cruz Azul and denied Caixinha the title. Former Nacional and Rangers boss Caixinha, who reportedly turned down the Mexico job last month, has already been the subject of questioning over his cautious tactical approach to the second leg.
Ronaldo settles Turin derby
Cristiano Ronaldo has eight goals from his last nine Serie A matches after his penalty won the spoils in the Turin derby on Saturday. Juventus beat Torino 1-0 at the Stadio Olimpico thanks to Ronaldo’s 70th-minute spot kick, with the Portugal captain getting a touch of luck after Torino goalkeeper Salvador Ichazo got a strong hand on the strike but merely parried it inside the post.
“We put in a good performance, played better than Torino, had more scoring opportunities and deserved the victory,” Ronaldo said after the match. “He (Ichazo) did well to get a hand to [the penalty], but I hit it hard and it went in. That’s the most important thing.”
Rafael Leão on target as Fonte sees red
Lille’s impressive form in Ligue 1 continued this weekend as they survived the early dismissal of Portuguese defender Jose Fonte to win 3-2 at Nimes. Lille captain Fonte was sent off after 16 minutes in bizarre circumstances, receiving a straight red card for his use of words towards the linesman after a throw-in decision was given against him.
A stunned Fonte left the field, meaning Lille would play some 80 minutes with ten men. Fortunately the visitors already led at that point thanks to Rafael Leão’s 4th-minute header, but the former Sporting forward was sacrificed shortly after Fonte’s red card as Lille manager Christophe Galtier brought on Portuguese defender Edgar Ié to shore up his defence. Lille, who also had former Braga midfielder Xeca in the side, went 3-0 up before a late rally from Nimes.
Guerreiro assist, Silva crucial for Sevilla
Raphaël Guerreiro followed up his midweek brace for Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League by starting for the German league leaders and creating the opener as the Dortmund beat Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga. Guerreiro’s perfect free-kick delivery was converted by Paco Alcacer after twenty minutes to put Dortmund on their way to a 2-1 victory that maintains their 9-point lead at the top.
In Spain, André Silva was also crucial in helping put his side on the road to victory. Silva joined Daniel Carriço in the Sevilla line-up for their match with Girona, which was level at 0-0 at half time. Ten minutes into the second period Silva was brought down by Girona’s Juanpe for a certain penalty, which was converted by Ever Banega and Sevilla went on to win the match 2-0. In the Spanish second tier, Domingos Duarte was among the goals for Deportivo La Coruna as they beat Real Zaragoza 3-1.
Candeias puts Rangers top; Amaral brace
Daniel Candeias’ early goal gave Rangers a 1-0 win over Hamilton Academical at Ibrox and sent the Glasgow side top of the SPL. Former Benfica winger Candeias finished with his left foot from inside the area, scoring his fifth goal of the season. Rangers lead Kilmarnock on goal difference at the top of the Scottish league and have a one-point advantage over champions Celtic, who have a game in hand.
Another former Benfica winger, João Amaral, scored one of the standout goals of last week’s round-up, and he was on target with a brace this weekend in Poland with Lech Poznan. Amaral scored twice in the second half as Poznan ran out 6-0 winners at bottom placed Zaglebie Sonsowiec. Top of the table Lechia Gdansk do not play until Monday, so Ricardo Sá Pinto’s Legia Warsaw took the chance to put some pressure on the surprise leaders with a 2-0 win over Piast Gliwice.
Performer of the Week: Domingos Quina (Watford)
Having hoped to issue this week’s award to Pedro Caixinha, the Watford younger emerged as a nice surprise contender. Quina is a highly-regarded talent at Vicarage Road, so let us be optimistic that this is the start of another bright Portuguese career.
By Sean Gillen
