Portugal midfielder João Palhinha added to his impressive start in English football by scoring his first Premier League goal at the weekend for Fulham. Cottagers boss Marco Silva was full of praise for his summer capture from Sporting, after watching his side beat Brentford 3-2 on Saturday.
Also in the English top flight, Bernardo Silva returned to the Manchester City line-up for their trip to Newcastle, scoring his first goal of the season in the process as the champions came from behind to draw 3-3 at St James’ Park. In Germany, Raphaël Guerreiro was on target but Borussia Dortmund suffered a remarkable collapse at home to Werder Bremen.
Newly-promoted Fulham’s dramatic win over fellow London side Brentford means Marco Silva’s men remain undefeated after three matches of the season. Having held both Liverpool and Bruno Lage’s Wolverhampton Wanderers to draws, Fulham got their first victory thanks to Aleksandar Mitrovic’s last-minute header.
A highlight in the contest was Palhinha’s first goal in English football. The former Sporting man rose to meet Andreas Pereira’s corner with a firm header to give Fulham a 2-0 lead after just twenty minutes. After the game, Marco Silva spoke glowingly about his countryman, who has settled quickly into Premier League life.
“His wife had a baby this week, and everyone’s delighted for him and his family. It’s important for him to feel that support from us, but it’s also important that he’s settled really well into our team and at the club.
“We knew when we were signing him that he would be a plus for us, for our squad; on the ball, off the ball, set pieces as well. And to see him scoring a goal and playing so well is great. It’s good to see the players take positives from something that we spent a long time on in the week.”
Fulham were handed a tough start upon their return to the Premier League, with Liverpool on opening day followed by the trip to Wolves and then this weekend’s clash with a Brentford side buoyed by their 4-0 win over Manchester United. Silva will no doubt be delighted to have earned five points and an early 7th place spot in the table.
Bernardo back with a bang
Bernardo Silva was handed his first start of the season this weekend by Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, having been a substitute in the champions’ opening two matches. Bernardo was selected for City’s away trip to Newcastle United, which proved a thrilling six-goal thriller as both sides led during the afternoon.
Ilkay Gundogan put the visitors ahead from a Bernardo assist after just five minutes, but a storming comeback by the hosts saw Newcastle lead 3-1 by the hour mark. However, City fought back through an Erling Haaland goal and a coolly-taken equaliser by Bernardo, who was later voted Player of the Match as the game ended 3-3.
Every touch from @BernardoCSilva's Man of the Match performance at Newcastle! ?✨#ManCity pic.twitter.com/M49Pn5TrFI
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 23, 2022
Speaking after a thoroughly entertaining match, Bernardo told reporters: “It was a very intense game. We started very well. The first 15 minutes were ours. My perception on the pitch was that we started attacking too quick. When we start playing like this and it’s too quick it’s better for the opponents
“The last 25 or 30 minutes of the first half were very tough. They could have scored more than twice in that time. Overall we played quite well but not controlling their counter-attacks and runners. You’ll suffer and that’s what happened today. We should have controlled the game better than we did today. We scored the third goal in the 64th minute. It was very early.
“I’m a bit disappointed we didn’t score the fourth. But still a good reaction from the team. Not a perfect game but we take the point. It is what it is. Seven points from three games isn’t bad. We knew how tough it is to come here. The atmosphere is great. It’s a very physical team. They’ve been great over the last few months. They’re in a great state of mind with very positive energy.
“I’m happy here. I’m doing my best to help the club. I’m very focused here.”
Vintage Guerreiro strike overshadowed by Dortmund collapse
Raphaël Guerreiro has his first goal of the new season, but for the Borussia Dortmund left-back the strike was quickly forgotten as his side suffered an extraordinary defeat to Werder Bremen. Guerreiro’s clean shot from distance on his favoured left foot put Dortmund 2-0 up at home – a lead which they carried into the 89th minute of the match.
What happened thereafter is a piece of Bundesliga history: the first time a team has been two goals down in the 89th minute and come back to win the match. Lee Buchanan (89’), Niklas Schmidt (93’) and Oliver Burke (95’) got the goals to inflict the first defeat of Dortmund’s campaign.
Highlights ? @WerderBremen_en are fast becoming the comeback kings ?
— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) August 20, 2022
Ollie Burke and Co. with another dramatic late salvo! #BVBSVW | #MD3 | #Bundesliga pic.twitter.com/u9t2V4v0w0
“When they score the first goal you say to yourself ‘no not today, it’s not possible, they cannot come back’,” Guerreiro said on Monday. “You think you have control of the game and in the last five minutes we lost everything. It was a hard night [after the game] and also on the way home in the car you could see the faces of all the fans. They were all disappointed and we are also. It’s hard to explain.”
The rest: Josué helps Legia fightback
Another late recovery took place in the Polish Ekstraklasa, where Legia Warsaw came from 2-0 down with less than ten minutes remaining to snatch a 2-2 draw against Gornik Zabre. Portuguese international Josué prompted the comeback with an 83rd-minute penalty. Elsewhere in the Polish top flight, former Santa Clara midfielder Rui Nené scored a 96th-minute winner for Jagiellonia Bialystok as they beat Miedz Legnica 2-1 at home.
Finally, Pedro Eugénio grabbed the winner for Astana in Kazakhstan as they beat Kyzyl-Zhar 1-0 in the Premier League, while Tino Barbosa was on the scoresheet in Differdange’s 1-1 draw against UT Petange in Luxembourg and there were two goals for Joël Monteiro in the Swiss Cup for Young Boys.
By Sean Gillen
