28/03/06 In front of just 1,461 people at the Municipal Stadium in Leiria, local side União and Boavista drew 0-0 Monday. There were many
opportunities on both sides, including a post hit in the first half by João Pinto, but the ball just wouldn't go in. Boavista have drawn two and lost two in their last four games, but somehow manage to remain in the
European places ahead of Nacional. After their ninth consecutive defeat, bottom side Penafiel were mathematically relegated to the Liga de Honra Sunday. 27/03/06 FC Porto
maintained top spot Sunday, doing the bare minimum at Académica and grabbing all three points with a goal on 70 minutes by sub Hugo Almeida
from a through ball by Jorginho. Porto remain two points ahead of Sporting and seven ahead of Benfica in third. Sporting
were also stuck in second gear, but it was more than enough to see off soft touch bottom club Penafiel 2-0 at Alvalade. The game was sewn up by half-time, the goals coming from Nani on 14 minutes and
João Alves on 36, the latter a cracking volley from outside the box. Vitória de Setúbal celebrated their midweek Taça win with a 4-1 drubbing of Naval. Pedro Oliveira, Sandro
and Varela put Vitória three-up at the break, Carlitos added another just after it and Naval got a consolation on the hour through Franco. The team Setúbal beat in the Taça semi-final,
Vitória de Guimarães, dropped another two points at Gil Vicente, and both remain in the relegation places along with Penafiel. Cléber
scored from the spot on 39 minutes after Gregory had handled on the line and was sent off, but Gil never said die and equalised in added time through João Vilela.
Still not far enough away from the drop zone to breathe easily, Paços de Ferreira beat fellow strugglers Estrela da Amadora 2-1 at home. N'Daye put Estrela in front on 58 minutes, but goals from
Júnior Bahia and Didi turned it around for Paços. There are just six points separating the team in 8th, União de Leiria, from the team in 17th, Gil Vicente. União play Boavista Monday
in the closing game of the 28th jornada. 26/03/06 Benfica put five points between themselves and fourth place Sporting Braga Saturday by beating them 1-0
at the Estádio da Luz. Nuno Gomes'
15th goal of the season from a Laurent Robert cross on two minutes, deflected off Paulo Jorge and past Paulo Santos, was enough to see off a strangely ineffectual Braga. The visitors' task was made even more difficult midway through the second half with the sending off of right back Luís Filipe.
Coach Ulisses Morais got his first win with Marítimo, who beat Belenenses at a nicely full Estádio dos Barreiros in Funchal. Caíco
got the only goal on 21 minutes, fighting off a challenge from Pelé (giving him a bloody nose in the process) and flicking the ball over the oncoming Marco Aurélio for the Madeiran side's first win in four games. Maritimo go above Belenenses in mid-table
Also in Madeira, Nacional could only draw 1-1 with Rio Ave in a game reaaranged from the previous evening when it had been postponed because of fog. Gaúcho
put the visitors in front on 71 minutes, but five minutes later Marchant
equalised. Nacional missed the chance to sneak into the Eruopean places at the expense of Boavista, while Rio Ave continue in trouble near the bottom. 21/03/06 Sporting
's record of eight straight wins in the Liga was highlighted by UEFA on their official site Monday. Their win Sunday was down to an own goal from their former 'keeper
Costinha. Current 'keeper Ricardo has gone 543 minutes without conceding a goal. Ricardo will be first choice ´keeper for the Selecção in Germany come the summer. 20/03/06 The Lisbon rivals Sporting and Benfica
both won away from home with a single goal Sunday. Sporting remain within two points of FC Porto at the top, with Benfica five points behind Sporting. Sporting made the short trip northwards to Leiria to beat
União, but it took an own goal by former Sporting ´keeper Costinha three minutes into the second half, after a good run down the left and low cross from Nani, to do it. Benfica
could have had a cricket score at Rio Ave, but their wayward finishing meant they had to settle for one, scored by talisman sub Pedro Mantorras, stabbing in a Simão cross two minutes into added time at
the end of the game. Rio Ave had had an Evandro goal disallowed minutes before when Danielson's hooked back pass from a far-post corner was deemed, dubioulsy, to have gone out of play. Ulisses Morais
' first game in charge of Marítimo was not a happy one, his side going down 0-2 at Sporting Braga, who stay in fourth and keep up the pressure on Benfica. Paulo Jorge
with a header on 17 minutes and the inevitable João Tomás on 55 got the goals. Marítimo's Filipe Oliveira was sent off in the dying minutes. Marítimo are skidding ever closer to the drop zone, and in fact
there are a handful of teams queuing up to avoid the drop. Estrela da Amadora got a vital three points with a 1-0 win at home to wobbling Vitória de Setúbal, Semedo
on target after just nine minutes. The result was settled in the space of a minute in Guimarães, Académica going in front on 18 through Joeano, Saganowski equalising almost immediatley for
Vitória, who need more than just the odd point to drag them out of the relegation zone. Gil Vicente snatched a point at doomed Penafiel, Gregory scoring first for Gil on the hour, Bibishkov
equalising five minutes later. Gil remain second from bottom. 19/03/06 FC Porto cruise on at the head of the table after comfortably seeing off strugglers
Paços de Ferreira 3-0 at the Dragão Saturday. McCarthy
beat the offside trap from a long ball by Pedro Emanuel and rounded the 'keeper Peçanha for the first on the half hour. Paços' resistance was more or less crushed a minute into the second half when Adriano
toe-poked past Peçanha after a superb through ball from wunderkind Anderson. Then on 73 minutes, sub Lisandro Lopes
swept in a square pass from Argentinian compatriot Lucho Gonzalez to put the game well and truly beyond Paços, who on this form are certs for the drop. Porto move five points clear of Sporting, who must now win at União de Leiria Sunday to keep up the pressure on their northern rivals.
The other Porto team Boavista lost their third game in a week - two in the Liga, one in the Taça - going down 0-2 at home to improving Belenenses. Zé Manuel blasted a penalty over
on 17 minutes after Rolando had brought down Fary, and that more or less reflected Boavista's luck on the night. Belenenses' first serious shot on goal in the second half saw former Boavista midfielder José Pedro
crash a shot into the top left hand corner from outside the area on 71 minutes. Six minutes later, Belenenses were two up, 'keeper William's poor goal kick sent straight back goalwards for Meyong
to be quicker than the central defenders and score his 14th goal of the season. The Cameroonian striker should not have been there to score, however, after being forgiven a red card following an awful two-footed foul on Tiago early in the second half. Boavista remain in the European places thanks to a slip by rivals Nacional Friday, while Belenenses move into a slightly more comfortable mid-table position.
This weekend's games are being preceded by a minute's silence in memory of the young footballers killed in a road accident last Sunday morning. The team of Inter da Boavista, from Braga, were travelling
to a game when their Ford Transit van careered off the road. One player died in the accident, another in hospital on Monday and another on Saturday. 18/03/06 Naval's mini-revival
continued Friday (unbeaten in four games, three of them victories) with a 3-1 home win over Nacional, who are going through the opposite type of form (this was their third straight defeat). In a quick,
open game, Naval scored two telling goals at the beginning of each half to practically sentence the Madeirans. Goulart passed back illegally to Diego after just four minutes, and Fajardo
cracked home the free-kick through a forest of bodies on the Nacional line. But the lead was short-lived, Bulgarian striker Chilikov
heading home after good work and a cross from the left by Miguelito. This Naval under new coach Rogério Gonçalves, though, is made of stern stuff, and they came back, Saulo, a constant thorn in Nacional's side,
finishing off a superb move on the break to knock in a Fogaça cross at the back post on 20 minutes. Into the second half, and Nacional were caught out once again by Saulo, finishing off another counter two
minutes in. There was a lot of time for Nacional to pull something back, but Naval shut up shop admirably and restricted them to a handful of half-chances. Naval leap to tenth, seemingly out of trouble ... but no ...
they are only three points clear of the relegation zone. As for Nacional, well ... they seem to have lost their way completely, and the dream of Europe is increasingly of the 'pipe' variety. 14/03/06 Sporting Braga missed the chance to go above Benfica into third Monday when they went down 0-2 at a surprising Belenenses. The Lisbon club had been a rather limp outfit until
this game, but fully deserved the three points with an organised and spirited display that lifts them out of the melee at the bottom of the table. Sandro Gaúcho
gave Belenenses the lead on 16 minutes with a header from corner by José Pedro. Five minutes into the second half, Braga left back Luís Filipe took his eye off the ball and Djurdjevic pounced on it, squaring for
Meyong to stroke home. Five minutes from time, Braga striker Delibasic saw two yellows in the space of a minute and got his marching orders. 13/03/06
After their European exploits, Benfica came tumbling down to earth Sunday with a 0-0 draw against lowly Naval in front of nearly 50,000 at the Luz. As Águias
could complain of two possible penalties not given by referee Carlos Xistra, and a bit of bad luck after they hit a post, but their shooting was also way off mark, Anderson, for example, missing a sitter after the excellent Naval 'keeper Taborda had parried a shot into his path, and their approach play was invariably sluggish. With only eight games left, they are seven and five points adrift of FC Porto and Sporting respectively. Naval's
Franco was sent off in the second half for an intentional hand ball that stopped Nuno Gomes going through on goal. Nacional seem to have lost their way after a superb first half to the season. They lost
1-2 at home Sunday to Estrela da Amadora, who jump a little further away from trouble at the bottom. Manú put Estrela in front on 14 minutes, but it was also an Estrela player who equalised,
Bevaqua heading through his own goal before the break. Three minutes from time, Rui Duarte gave Estrela all three points from a free kick. Vitória de Guimarães
remain in the relegation zone along with Paços de Ferreira after their 1-1 draw in Paços. Gabonese striker Antchouet put Vitória in front on 88 minutes, but then in added time, Hungarian defender
Dragoner put through his own goal to leave the points shared. 12/03/06 Sporting did enough Saturday to beat an under-strength Boavista 1-0
and keep in touch with FC Porto at the top. Boavista seemed to be controlling things quite comfortably early on, without creating any danger, until the 20th minutes when a free kick on the right from Carlos Martins was palmed away by William. The ball fell to Liedson who knocked it straight back goalwards and there was unmarked central defender
Tonel
to back-heel in from close range. Boavista proved toothless throughout - Ricardo did not have to make one serious save - but could complain of a penalty not given, Tonel fouling Fary. At the other end, Sporting did get a penalty for a hand ball by Areias a quarter of an hour from the end, but Sá Pinto allowed Wiliam to save. By the end, Boavista were hoiking balls into the area, but it smacked of desperation. Boavista thus end their eight-match unbeaten run, while this was Sporting's seventh successive win.
Before the game, Sporting were presented with the Copa BES/A Bola, awarded to the best of the Três Grandes
(FC Porto, Benfica and Sporting) during the season in the games among them. FC Porto won the cup in the last two seasons. Académica moved further away from trouble with a 1-0 win at home to bottom club
Penafiel, Filipe Teixeira getting the goal. Gil Vicente, however, are deep in it. They lost 1-2 at home to União de Leiria after going in front on 34 miniutes through Bruno Tiago
. Lourenço on the stroke of half time and Fábio Felício on 64 minutes turned it round for União. Marítimo could only manage a 0-0 draw at home to Rio Ave. 11/03/06 Whatever happens in the other games this weekend, FC Porto will keep their nose in front in the title race with a 2-0 win at Vitória de Setúbal
Friday. Portugal U-21 international Raúl Meireles took the corner that gave Adriano the first goal, a close-range header on 40 minutes, and it was Meireles
who headed home from a Quaresma cross five minutes into the second half to clinch the victory. Quaresma's performance was overshadowed by an awful over-the-top foul on Adalto on 28 minutes which put the Brazilian defender in hospital. Referee Pedro Henriques, who saw the whole thing, pardoned the Porto winger a card of any colour.
07/03/06 Rio Ave leapfrogged over Belenenses in the scrap to avoid the drop from the Liga when they beat them 2-1 at home Monday. Brazilian striker Gaúcho
, with his 100th Liga
goal, put Rio Ave in front on 17 minutes, rising unmarked to head home a simple goal from a free-kick. Belenenses are beginning to have a look of desperation about them; they had high hopes for the season, but have spent most of it struggling. They were further depressed on 82 minutes when veteran
Evandro extended Rio Ave's lead. A Rolando goal on the stroke of time was a mere consolation for the Blues. 06/03/06 All the Big Three
clubs won this weekend, while the second string around them in the table failed to. Benfica had got three points at Estrela da Amadora Saturday, while Boavista and Sporting Braga both lost two points in their draw.
On Sunday, top team FC Porto beat challengers for a European spot Nacional 3-0. Former Nacional striker Adriano put Benni McCarthy
through on 17 minutes for the South African striker to give Porto the lead. Nacional's hopes of turning things round suffered a critical setback on the stroke of half time when Pepe
headed Porto two up from a Raúl Meireles free-kick. And Porto clinched the win in the second half with a goal from Argentinian midfielder Lucho González, assisted by winger Ivanildo. On 68 minutes, 17-year-old
Brazilian Anderson made his début for the club and might have scored soon afterwards, but he allowed Nacional 'keeper Diego to block when he was through on goal. Another player making his début helped Sporting,
struggling on the night, beat strugglers Gil Vicente 2-0 at Alvalade. Koke
came on as sub on 66 minutes and within two had given the Lions the lead. On the stroke of time, the Spanish striker simply confirmed Sporting's overall superiority with a ball bundled over the line after Moutinho had rounded the Gil 'keeper Paulo Jorge and shot goalwards from an angle.
FC Porto are top on 54, Sporting are on 52 and Benfica on 49, while Braga are on 48, Boavista on 45 and Nacional on 43. José Fonte, central defender on loan to Paços de Ferreira from Benfica
, got a hat-trick at bottom club Penafiel. Unfortunately, however, two of them were in his own net ... Pedrinha had put Paços in front on 15 minutes, and Fonte
had extended their lead on 23. But then three minutes from half time and well into added time at the end of the game the same player beat his own ´keeper to deprive Paços of two much-needed points. Académica
travelled slightly south from Coimbra to beat União de Leiria 2-0 on their own patch. Filipe Teixeira on 36 minutes and Joeano on 57 did the trick. Between 9th (Marítimo) and 17th
(Rio Ave) position there are now just four points' difference. 05/03/06 Benfica managed a win at Estrela da Amadora
Saturday, but they left it until added time to clinch it. Estrela it was that went in front on 31 minutes, Paulo Machado
(who should have been sent off in the first five minutes for an awful studs-up foul on Petit) swinging a free-kick from the left inside the near post, with Benfica 'keeper Moretto all at sea. French winger
Laurent Robert put As Águias level on 51 minutes with a low cross shot from a Petit corner, and sub Miccoli
got the winner in added time, aided by a wild deflection off Estrela central defender Maurício that fooled ´keeper Bruno Vale. Benfica coach Ronald Koeman
will be happy with the result, but less happy with the weak performance of his team ahead of Wednesday's crucial Champions League clash with Liverpool at Anfield. Earlier in the evening, Boavista
spoiled their run of seven straight wins with a 0-0 draw at home to Sporting Braga. In fact, Boavista were perhaps lucky to get the point, given that they were reduced to ten men early in the second half
when central defender Cadú saw a second yellow. But then they could have gone ahead soon afterwards, sub Cissé heading goalwards from a corner and Paulo Santos making a superb on-the-line save. Then in added time, Braga
striker João Tomás had a clear chance but blasted over. Boavista will be without Cadú (red), Tiago and João Pinto (accumulated yellow cards) for next week's game at Sporting. Earlier in the day, Naval, under
new coach Rogério Gonçalves, hoisted themselves, at least momentarily, out of the relegation places with a 2-0 win over Marítimo, both goals coming from Bruno Fogaça, early in each half.
Polish striker Saganowski scored a hat-trick Friday as Vitória de Guimarães beat Vitória de Setubal 4-0, Cléber
getting the other goal from a penalty. The result lifts Guimarães out of the relegation zone. Given the poor attendances at their games (in one of the 30,000-capacity EURO 2004 stadiums), União de Leiria
have offered free tickets for their match Sunday against Académica. |
