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30/04/07

Neither Benfica nor Sporting managed to take real advantage of FC Porto's defeat at Boavista the day before when the drew a tense clássico 1-1 Sunday in front of 55,000 at the Luz. The Lions came out snarling and were up within two minutes, Abel crossing from the right for Liedson to beat his marker and head home. Benfica reacted well and their subsequent pressure told on 23 minutes when Miccoli cracked a low shot past Ricardo's right hand. The draw leaves Sporting three points adrift of FC Porto and Benfica four, with just three games left.

The teams lined up:

Benfica: Quim, Nélson, Anderson, David Luiz, Léo, Petit (Mantorras 80), Katsouranis, Rui Costa, Karagounis, Nuno Gomes (Manú 68), Miccoli.

Sporting: Ricardo, Abel (Pereirinha 65), Caneira, Polga, Tello, Miguel Veloso, João Moutinho, Romagnoli (Tonel 87), Nani, Yannick (Alecsandro 65), Liedson.

Desportivo das Aves full-back Jorge Ribeiro, brother of Atlético Madrid's Maniche, scored a scorcher to beat Naval away and lift Aves, who looked dead and buried a month ago, out of the relegation zone.

Vitória de Setúbal dropped into the zone after they could only draw 1-1 at home to Marítimo. Lipatin put the Madeiran side in front with Varela equalising for Vitória.

Nacional needed a penalty in added time from Juliano to get the points at home to Estrela da Amadora.

29/04/07

Boavista produced a shock Saturday, beating local rivals FC Porto 2-1 and re-launching the title race; Benfica, five points behind Porto, and Sporting, four, play each other Sunday. Boavista climb to ninth.

It was one of Boavista's best performances of an immensely disappointing season for their fans. They came out employing the aggressive, pressing style which has characterised them before and Porto were immediately on the back foot. The Panthers' early pressure was rewarded with a goal on 14 minutes, central defender Ricardo Silva beating his marker Bruno Alves to the ball to head in from a Grzelak corner.

Two brilliant saves by Hélton from Cissé and the excellent Kazmierczak kept the difference minimal before the break, but early in the second half, Grzelak sent Zé Manuel through on goal and the nippy winger beat the oncoming Hélton. Porto coach Jesualdo Ferreira, who deserted Boavista before the season proper began, made several changes, including bringing on Anderson for the ineffectual Postiga, and their game grew. Things were looking up especially on 70 minutes when Peter Jehle, the Liechtenstein ´keeper making his début for Boavista, was sent off for bringing down Adriano; Lucho González stroked the penalty past sub William. But Porto were unable to capitalise on their numerical superiority, and a famous victory for Boavista could have been by an even wider margin but for a little luck when Hélton managed somehow to take the ball off Linz's foot with the Austrian striker through on goal.

The teams lined up: 

Boavista: Peter Jehle, Lucas, Hélder Rosário, Ricardo Silva, Mário Silva, Cissé (Essame 90), Kazmierczack, Tiago, José Manuel, Linz (William 71), Grzelak (Marquinho 82).

FC Porto: Helton. Bosingwa, Ricardo Costa, Bruno Alves. Marek Cech (Renteria 74). Jorginho (Lisandro Lopez 54), Raul Meireles. Lucho Gonzalez. Hélder Postiga (Anderson 46), Adriano. Ricardo Quaresma.

Earlier in the evening, Belenenses consolidated their fourth spot with a 2-0 win over bottom club Beira-Mar, Garcés in the first half and Dady in the second getting the goals. They move provisionally six points ahead of Sporting Braga, who they meet next week.

28/04/07

Rivals for a European place Paços de Ferreira and União de Leiria opened the 27th jornada Friday with a 0-0 draw. There was criticism of the refereeing: Paços had a penalty claim turned down in the first half, and União's Renato was sent off for a second yellow as early as the 26^th minute, Paços' Antunes went for a second yellow on 82, and Paços' Mangualde got a straight red on the stroke of time. Paços stay 6^th, four points ahead of União and on the same points as Sporting Braga, although Braga have a game in hand.

22/04/07

Benfica put an end to a three-match run without winning in the Liga with a 3-0 victory over Marítimo in Madeira. Benfica hit the post twice in the first half through Miccoli and Rui Costa, but Marítimo had a valid claim for a penalty turned down when Petit handled. Then in the second half, things went right for the Lisbon giants, and two goals from Miccoli and a third deep into added time by Katsouranis from the spot (the penalty given for an excellent clean tackle on Manú by Milton do Ó) gave them the three points to move provisionally second above Sporting.

The teams lined up:

Marítimo: Marcos, José Gomes (Filipe Oliveira 68), Milton do Ó, Gregory, Evaldo, Wénio (Luís Olim 45), Olberdam, Douglas, Marcinho, Lipatin, Mbesuma (Kanu 68)

Benfica: Quim, Nélson, Anderson, David Luiz, Léo, Katsouranis, Petit, Rui Costa, Karagounis (João Coimbra 86), Miccoli (Manú 94), Nuno Gomes (Derlei 72)

21/04/07

Estrela da Amadora practically guaranteed their Liga safety Friday with a 2-1 win over Boavista. At an Estádio José Gomes with no more than 500 souls rattling around inside, both teams served up concrete proof of why more people were not there: football of the very poorest quality throughout. Save for a mad ten minutes midway through the second half which saw three goals, the sides were reduced to one or two dangerous shots on goal each: at the end of the first half, Estrela's Moses came close with a header from a Luís Loureiro free-kick, and early in the second half, Ricardo Sousa forced a good save from Pedro Alves, also from a free-kick. Then on the hour, Yoni took a short free-kick on the right, Marco Paulo crossed and Moses this time made no mistake with his header. Boavista sparked briefly into life, a spell of pressure culminating in a swivel and volleyed slice over the 'keeper's head from 25 metres by defender Hélder Rosário . But Boavista lost focus almost immediately, and on 70 minutes, Luís Loureiro curled the winner into the top right-hand corner from a free out on the left, William apparently thinking it was going wide.

The win consolidates Estrela's 12^th place, nine points off the drop zone, and now just one point behind Boavista in 11^th. Jaime Pacheco, Boavista's coach, was quick to blame the referee Bruno Paixão for the result, but it was really no more than an attempt to pull the wool over our eyes; this is the poorest Boavista side for many a season.

The teams lined up:

Estrela da Amadora: Pedro Alves, Rui Duarte, Hugo Carreira, Amoreirinha, Edu Silva, Luís Loureiro, Marco Paulo (Sérgio Marquês 69), Jaime (Moses 26), Tiago Gomes, Anselmo, Jones (Yoni 58).

Boavista: William, Lucas, Ricardo Silva, Hélder Rosário, Mário Silva (Marcos António 75), Tiago (Fary 89), Cissé, Ricardo Sousa, Kazmierczak, José Manuel (Hugo Monteiro 67), Linz.

17/04/07

Benfica failed to win for the fifth game in a row Monday, drawing 0-0 at home to Sporting Braga. Benfica looked tired and out of ideas, but still had chances to win, notably through Mantorras, who had two good sights of goal, and Karagounis, who his tth ebar after a mazy run into the area from the right. The loss of two points means that Benfica slip to third in the table, a point behind Sporting and five behind FC Porto, with five games left.

16/04/07

União de Leiria jumped to eighth in the Liga with a 1-1 draw at Boavista Sunday. União dominated for large stretches, and it was natural that they should go ahead, Cadu da Silva latching onto a half-save by William from a Slusarski shot. That was on the hour, and so comfortable were União that it came as something of a surprise that Boavista managed an equaliser, Hélder Roasário meeting a Zé Manuel free kick at the back post to sweep the ball in past Fernando on 82 minutes.

It was coach Jaime Pacheco's 250^th game in charge at Boavista (123 wins, 71 draws and 56 defeats) but he had to deal with whistles from the (meagre) crowd for the twenty minutes during which his side was behind.

The teams lined up:

Boavista: William, Lucas, Hélder Rosário, Ricardo Silva, Mário Silva, Livramento (Essame 56), Tiago, Kazmierczack, José Manuel, Linz (Fary 62), Nuno Pinto (Grzelak 49).

União de Leiria: Fernando, Laranjeiro, Marcos António, Renato, Éder, Paulo Gomes, Faria, Harison (Paulo Machado 74), Cadu da Silva, Slusarski (Rossato 88), Alhandra (Paulo César 83).

Things are looking bad for Vitória de Setúbal , who dropped into the relegation zone after a 1-3 capitulation at home to Beira-Mar, who climb above them in the scramble to avoid relegation. Sandro had put Vitória in front on 13 minutes, but two second-half goals from Edgar and one from Ratinho gave Beira-Mar the valuable three points.

In a crazy game at Nacional, struggling Desportivo das Aves also got a precious three points with a 4-3 win. Cássio put Nacional in front on 12 minutes and Filipe Anunciação equalised on the hour. Then in the last 20 minutes, all hell broke loose: Aves went 4-1 up, Paulo Sérgio (2) and Moreira adding the goals, but then Diego got two in the last two minutes to make the dying seconds a nail-biting affair.

In the other game of the day, Paços de Ferreira held Naval to a 1-1 draw away. Saulo put the hosts in front just before the break, but then Renato Queiróz Gave Paços a point a quarter of an hour from time.

15/04/07

FC Porto kept the pace at the top of the Liga Saturday with a win at Académica that at one time looked comfortable but then got a bit hairy. Central defender Bruno Alves scored his first goal for the club just before the break, a shot from close range after a lot of confusion in the heart of the area. It was only twenty minutes from the end, however, that Porto appeared to put the game beyond a sprightly Académica, Adriano putting the finishing touch to a brilliant Quaresma cross from the left. Marek Cech brought Filipe Teixeira down in the area a quarter of an hour from the end, Lino sending Hélton the wrong way from the spot. Afer that, there was always the fear that Académica could snatch a draw, so Porto resorted to time-wasting tactics, hoiks out of defence and holding the ball up on the wings … and it worked: they won the three points that keep them top, four ahead of Sporting. Benfica play on Monday and can theoretically move up to second, three points behind Porto.

The teams lined up:

Académica: Pedro Roma, Sarmento, Kaká, Litos, Lino, Paulo Sérgio (Alexandre 73), Filipe Teixeira, Vítor Vinha (Miguel Pedro 64), Dame, Joeano, Gyano (Roberto Brum 46).

FC Porto: Helton, Bosingwa, Ricardo Costa, Bruno Alves, Fucile, Jorginho (Raul Meireles 67), Lucho Gonzalez, Marek Cech, Hélder Postiga (Anderson 77), Adriano (Renteria 90), Ricardo Quaresma.

Earlier in the evening, Belenenses had consolidated their fourth place with a relatively easy 3-0 win over neighbours Estrela de Amadora. They established the result within half an hour, two Garcês goals sandwiching one from top scorer Dady. Belenenses are now five points ahead of Sporting Braga, who have a game in hand.

14/04/07

Sporting kept up their side of the bargain in the title race Friday with a convincing 4-0 win over Marítimo – an uncomfortable début for the new coach of the Madeiran side Alberto Pazos. The destiny of the game was fixed after just one minute through Liedson, and Romagnoli made it two before 20 minutes were up. Marítimo kept it respectable until the last ten minutes when Moutinho and sub Alecsandro made it four.

The result puts Sporting provisionally into second, one point behind FC Porto.

The teams lined up:

Sporting: Ricardo, Abel, Marco Caneira, Polga, Tello, Miguel Veloso, João Moutinho, Nani (Pereirinha 70), Romagnoli (Alecsandro 70), Liedson, Djaló (Farnerud 81).

Marítimo: Marcos, Zé Gomes, Milton, Alex (Gregory 50), Evaldo, Wênio, Olberdam, Filipe Oliveira (Marcinho 46), Luís Olim (Douglas 42), Mbesuma, Lipatin.

10/04/07

Benfica blew the chance to stay within a point of FC Porto at the top of the Liga Monday when they could only draw 2-2 at bottom club Beira-Mar in front of a record crowd of 25,000, predominantly Benfica fans.

The hosts surprisingly went into the front on 24 minutes through Ratinho, and with a combination of stout defending and a goalkeeper, Eduardo, in great form, Benfica were kept at bay until the last ten minutes. Talisman Pedro Mantorras had come on as sub on 80 minutes, and two minutes later his busyness around the goal created a chance for him that he did not waste; his first Liga goal of the season. But Beira-Mar did not crumple as might have been expected, and they took the lead again, former Benfica striker Delisabic diving in at the near post to head in a Mateus cross. But on the stroke of time, Simão invented a penalty for himself and strode up to put the spot kick past Eduardo, who got a hand to it. It was Simão's 11 ^th of the season, and he heads the list of top scorers.

The teams lined up:

Beira-Mar: Eduardo, Ricardo, Devic, Alcaraz, Tininho, Diakité, Luciano Ratinho (Matheus 77), André Leão (Emerson 42), Rui Lima, Artur (Reginaldo 88), Delibasic.

Benfica: Quim, Nélson, David Luiz, Anderson (Derlei 65), Léo, Petit, Katsouranis, Karagounis (Rui Costa 46), Simão, Nuno Gomes (Mantorras 79), Miccoli.

FC Porto are on 56 points, Benfica 53 and Sporting 52.

08/04/07

Sporting moved to level on points with Benfica Saturday with a 1-0 win at Sporting Braga. Winger Nani got the only goal on 50 minutes, a reflex header after Paulo Santos had parried an Abel cross.

Belenenses also won 1-0 away from home, at União de Leiria, Dady getting the goal on 66 minutes. The win takes them up to fourth, above Braga.

Another 1-0 result was Desportivo das Aves' win over dismal Boavista, Moreira scoring on the hour against his old club. Aves climb off the bottom of the table, but are still looking good bets for the drop. Boavista were down to ten men from the 50-minute mark, Cissé getting his marching orders.

There were two more red cards at coach-less Marítimo, Smit off on 36 minutes, for Marítimo, China for Naval a quarter of an hour from the end. The cards were matched by goals, Gregory putting the Madeiran side in front on 12 minutes, Pimenta equalising ten minutes from time.

Marítimo's Maderian neighbours Nacional slipped up at Paços de Ferreira, always strong at home. They actually went in front early on through Leandro do Bomfim, but two goals from Geraldo in the last fifteen minutes gave Paços the points and a view of Europe.

The final game was a ding-dong 3-3 draw between Estrela da Amadora and Académica that went 0-1, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 3-3. Anselmo, Dário and Jaime, from the spot, got the goals for the home side, Claudio Pitbull and Joeano with two got the visitors'. Estrela's Marco Paulo was sent on his way with a red card on 74 minutes.

07/04/07

FC Porto set the weekend's Liga bar high Friday with a crunching 5-1 over lowly Vitória de Setúbal. Porto were 4-0 up by half-time with goals from Jorginho, Adriano (2) and Hélder Postiga. Bruno Ribeiro pulled one back for Vitória on the hour, but it could never be more than a consolation, and Brazilian midfielder Anderson, back to Liga action after a long lay-off through injury, fixed the score a quarter of an hour from time. Porto now have 52 goals from 24 Liga games.

The teams lined up:

FC Porto: Helton, Fucile, Pepe, Bruno Alves, Marek Cech, Ricardo Quaresma, Bosingwa, Lucho Gonzalez (Lucas Mareque 57), Jorginho (Anderson 46), Adriano (Vieirinha 67), Hélder Postiga.

Vitória de Setúbal: Milojevic, Janício, Mamadou, Auri, Bruno Ribeiro, Sandro, Binho (King 68), André Barreto, Varela, Amuneke (Mbamba 46), Rui Dolores (Inzaghi 64).

The pressure is now on Benfica to keep up by getting three points at Beira-Mar Monday.

03/04/07

Full-back Abel got his first goal for Sporting at home to Beira-Mar Monday, and a second from Liedson helped the Lions to gain ground on FC Porto (four points) and Benfica (three) at the top of the Liga.

02/04/07

Benfica and FC Porto shared the points in Sunday's clássico in front of 62,000 at the Luz. It was seen as being a decisive game at the top as whichever team won would be out in front for the final sprint. As it is, Porto remain one point ahead of Benfica, and the result gives the team in third, Sporting, a chance to make up ground when they play Beira-Mar Monday.

It was a typical game of two halves. Porto dominated the first 45 minutes and went in front on 41, Quaresma swinging over a cross from the left with central defender Pepe heading in at the back post.

In the second half, Porto could blame themselves for easing off and letting Benfica back in the game, capped by a goal from a free-kick from the right by Simão which was headed against the far post by central defender Davíd Luíz before striking Porto captain Lucho González and going in.

The fact that both goals were scored or caused by central defenders from dead ball situations summed up the game: tense but scrappy, with heart ruling head for much of the time.

The teams lined up:

Benfica: Quim, Nélson, David Luiz, Anderson, Léo, Petit, Katsouranis (Rui Costa 46), Simão, Karagounis, Miccoli (Mantorras 85), Nuno Gomes (Derlei 70).

FC Porto: Helton, Bosingwa, Pepe, Bruno Alves, Fucile, Paulo Assunção, Lucho Gonzalez, Raul Meireles (Marek Cech 60), Jorginho (Renteria 74), Ricardo Quaresma (Anderson 90), Adriano.

Porto had a large number of fans at the game (Super Dragões), grouped in the top tier at one end of the Luz. It added to the atmosphere, but they were seriously out of order by sending cherry bombs and ripped-up seats onto the Benfica fans below.

Marcinho gave Marítimo an early lead at home to Sporting Braga, but goals from Wender and Maciel gave Braga the points.

An own goal from Pedro Simões and a second-half goal from Nigerian forward Amuneke against Estrela da Amadora helped Vitória de Setúbal to breathe a little at the bottom of the table.

Académica v União de Leiria and Naval v Nacional both ended in 0-0 draws.

01/04/07

Belenenses provisonally climbed to fourth in the Liga with a 1-0 home win over bottom club Desportivo das Aves Saturday, Dady providing the goal on 17 minutes.

Two goals from Austrian international Roland Linz helped Boavista to a 3-1 win over Paços de Ferreira at the Bessa. Boavista went 1-0 up on 37 minutes through a Kazmierczak free kick, and the same Polish midfielder touched the ball on for Linz to tap home his first on the hour. Antunes pulled one back for Paços from a free-kick, deflected off the wall, two minutes later, but Linz broke through and placed a left footed shot past Peçanha's left hand on 73 minutes to give Boavista a welcome three points.