Another hugely prolific weekend for Portuguese players based abroad saw some of the Seleção’s key goal threats on target as Cristiano Ronaldo, André Silva and João Félix all found the net in Italy, Germany and Spain respectively.
Meanwhile, Rúben Dias registered his first goal for Manchester City and Ruben Neves earned Wolverhampton Wanderers a point with a rare headed goal, while Domingos Quina hit another Golaço in La Liga and José Fonte saved Ligue 1 leaders Lille from defeat in France.
Portuguese also hit the back of the net in Poland, Turkey, Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Saudi Arabia and Luxembourg.
Ronaldo on target as Juve slip again
Cristiano Ronaldo is still Serie A’s top marksman after scoring for stuttering champions Juventus in their 1-1 draw at Verona on Saturday evening. Ronaldo put Juve ahead just a few minutes into the second half with a calm finish from Federico Chiesa’s lay-off but Verona, who brought Miguel Veloso on at the break, went away with a point through Antonin Barak’s headed equaliser.
With many in Turin asking if the club are too reliant on Ronaldo’s goal contribution, the Portugal captain continues to prove a consistently prolific force in Italian football. Ronaldo has 50 goals from his last 53 appearances in the Italian top flight, and leads Inter’s Romelu Lukaku by a single goal at the top of the goalscoring charts.
Juventus are in 3rd place in Serie A, ten points adrift of Inter with a game in-hand. The teams meet at Juventus stadium on the penultimate round of the season in May.
Dias off the mark as City make it 20 wins
Rúben Dias has now added goals to his reputation as one of the best defenders in the Premier League, scoring his first for Manchester City in a 2-1 win over West Ham United on Saturday. Dias nodded in Kevin De Bruyne’s cross after half an hour, as City secured a 20th straight win in all competitions to move 12 points clear of Manchester United at the top of the Premier League.
Making it 20 in a row! ??
— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 27, 2021
? #ManCity | https://t.co/axa0klD5re pic.twitter.com/ec2YiIEvrZ
Former Benfica stopper Dias, who was the only Portuguese in City’s line-up as Bernardo Silva and João Cancelo were rested, spoke to the media after the match. “I cannot explain [my goal] and I can only think about how all of the team is made like this,” he said. “One time it is the striker, the next time it is the winger, the next time it is the midfielder and sometimes it needs to be the centre backs or full-backs and that is what makes the team.
“It also speaks about our desire to win as everyone is involved. Our defence works the same way every game: a desire to win, a desire to not concede, a desire to make the opponents feel like it is very tough to get to our goal. These things happen with the right mentality.”
Manchester United allowed the gap at the top to increase after drawing 0-0 against Chelsea on Sunday afternoon, with Bruno Fernandes playing the full ninety minutes. There was also 90 minutes for Ricardo Pereira, who continued his recovery from injury in Leicester City’s 3-1 home defeat to Arsenal.
“He should do it more often” – Nuno responds to Neves equaliser
Rúben Neves scored a rare headed goal on Saturday evening as Wolverhampton Wanderers drew 1-1 at Newcastle United at St James’ Park. Wolves were trailing in the second half when Neves got on the end of Pedro Neto’s delivery from the right and guided his header past Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.
Nuno, who selected five Portuguese in his line-up: Rui Patrício, Nélson Semedo, João Moutinho, Neves and Neto, spoke to media after the match about the goal. “I’ve seen it (in training), it’s something that [Neves] should do more often, sometimes the game doesn’t allow the midfielders to go in the box, but today, after we found wide areas, we were able to put a lot of bodies in the box and fortunately Rúben was there to make a good header. It was very important. It was only Willian there, so Rúben got there, so happy for him and let’s try to do it again.”
Neves himself added: “I had a lot of space inside the box because their centre halves were worried about Willian, so I saw the space behind him, I went for it and it was a great cross from Neto. I was looking for the ball in front, the ball was a little bit behind me, but I tried my best to put the ball in the goal and fortunately I helped the team with a goal.
“It’s like I always say, it’s about improving and trying to help the team with everything I can. I think I’ve been going a little bit further on the pitch in the last games and I scored and helped the team to get the draw and it was an important point.”
Yesterday's highlights as the points are shared at St James' Park. #NEWWOL
— Wolves (@Wolves) February 28, 2021
?? pic.twitter.com/Jo62OW0bki
Fonte snatches point for Lille
José Fonte was the hero for Lille in France this weekend with a late equaliser to earn the Ligue 1 leaders a 1-1 draw against Strasbourg. Fonte scored for the second week running when arriving at the back post to nod in Benjamin Andre’s cross, with the result seeing Lille two points clear of defending champions PSG at the top of the table.
“We are not particularly happy,” Fonte said after the game. “We did everything to come back in the second half, but we have to create more and give ourselves more means to get chances. We lacked offensive aggressiveness, intensity, but we felt a bit of fatigue after Thursday’s game against Ajax. But that shouldn’t be an excuse. We have to keep fighting for the title. It’s not over. We are ambitious, we are players capable of doing more and that’s why we are disappointed. We are not happy with this point.”
Another Golaço for Quina
Domingos Quina is proving an inspired signing for Granada in La Liga has the on-loan Watford midfielder scored a Golaço for the second week running in Spain. Quina, who arrived on deadline day from the English Championship club, opened his account last week against Huesca and was on target again on Sunday as Granada beat Elche 2-1 at home.
Granada boss Diego Martinez said of the 21-year-old after the match: “It is true that he has that quality of shooting, among other very good conditions, but also a lot to improve in many details. Which is not easy with so few training sessions and the tactical variability of the team, even more in his position so that his automatisms are clear. We are happy with his progress, he has scored two goals and I hope it gives him confidence.”
Domingos Quina in La Liga:
— Sean Gillen (@SeanGillen9) March 1, 2021
Two starts; two golaçospic.twitter.com/giPwaAYHpa
The rest: Tiba the match-winner in Poland; Paixão keeps scoring in Turkey
Portuguese midfielder Pedro Tiba scored a last-gasp winner in the Poznan derby as Lech Poznan came from behind to win 2-1 at Warta Poznan in the Ekstraklasa. Tiba showed fantastic composure to delay his finish in a crowded penalty area and score with what was almost the lack kick of the game at the end of stoppage time.
There were two other match-winners in Polish football this weekend: Tiago Alves also scored in the 93rd minute to give Piast Gliwice a 1-0 win at Jagiellonia Bialystock, while in the second tier former Vila Real forward Rafael Victor scored both goals as Sandecja Nowy Sącz beat Miedź Legnica 2-0 at home.
Pedro Tiba really came through for Lech Poznan in the derby against Warta Poznan last night. Winner with the last kick. Talk about keeping a cool head under pressure ????pic.twitter.com/1hGuy6FoXa
— Sean Gillen (@SeanGillen9) February 27, 2021
Perhaps the goal of the week came in Belgium, where Lisbon-born midfielder Leonardo Lopes scored his first of the season for Cercle Brugge in their 2-0 victory against Beveren. In the second tier, Club Brugge’s B team were beaten 3-1 at home by RWD Molenbeek, for whom Rocha Miramar was on the scoresheet.
What a hit by Leandro Lopes for Cercle Brugge in Belgium this weekend ???? pic.twitter.com/uaySPxbIr2
— Sean Gillen (@SeanGillen9) March 1, 2021
Elsewhere, Marco Paixão is the top goalscorer in the Turkish second division after another in Altay’s 2-1 win at Giresunspor took the veteran striker onto 18 for the season. In Bulgaria, there was a first goal in the new colours of Cherno More for ex Benfica forward Zé Gomes, who found the net in a 2-1 victory over Beroe. João Aurélio scored his first goal for Cypriot side Pafos in a 2-1 win over Karmiotissa.
Finally, there were goals in Greece for Xande Silva, who struck for Aris as they saw off Atromitos 3-0 at home, as well as Sturgeon in OFI’s 2-1 loss to Apollon Smirnis. Former Penafiel and Moreirense striker Fabio Abreu bagged a brace for Saudi Arabian side Al Batin in a 3-0 win against Al Wahda, while in Luxembourg Diogo Pimentel scored in Fola Esch’s 4-1 win over Rodange and Artur Abreu found the net for UT Pétange as they lost 2-1 to Jeunesse d'Esch.
By Sean Gillen
