28/04/05 Penafiel will play their home game against Benfica on 7 May at their own Estádio 25 de Abril
. The club had wanted to transfer the game to Paris, where there is a large community of Portuguese emigrants and where a full house would be assured, giving the club a healthy payday. But the uncertainty of
Penafiel's SuperLiga survival (they still need a point to be mathematically safe) and the certainty that their request for a venue change would be turned down by the Liga, has taken them back to square
one. Last weekend's Estoril v Benfica game was switched to the Algarve
to help Estoril's finances (players' salaries have been overdue), but the decision was not well received by many as Estoril lost their home advantage - 21 of their 26 points have been won at home this season. Benfica won 2-1.
27/04/05 The weekend's results separated the waters somewhat at the top of the SuperLiga. Benfica filled the Estádio do Algarve
with 30,000 delirious benfiquistas Sunday, caught on a wave of optimism, for what should have been Estoril's home game, shifted 300 kms south for financial reasons. Estoril, in desperate trouble at the
bottom, almost caused an upset. Paulo Sousa
put them in front on 12 minutes with a cross that found its way into the net. The 'Canaries' then shut up shop, especially since they were down to ten men on 24 minutes through a second yellow to Rui Duarte. Despite their pressure, Benfica left it until a quarter of an hour from the end to equalise, through a
Luisão header from a corner by Simão. Estoril's defiance was further shaken by a second red card, to João Paulo for words to the ref on 78. Then on 82 minutes, Benfica's frequent saviour, Pedro Mantorras,
did it again, lashing a low cross in from close range. Mantorras has played just 268 minutes of football this season after a long lay-off through injury, but this was his fifth goal. Benfica
put three points between themselves and Sporting in second, while Estoril are third from bottom on the same points as Moreirense and Beira-Mar
, but all three are seven points from safety and looking doomed. Sporting Braga are third, a point behind Sporting and four behind Benfica. They will be kicking themselves for not making more of their visit to
Penafiel Monday. N´Doye scored the only goal of the game to give Penafiel three points in their fight to avoid the drop. FC Porto's Ricardo Quaresma
scored with a first-time shot with the outside of his right foot from the edge of the box on the stroke of time at bottom club Beira-Mar. It puts Porto on equal points with Sporting Braga.
It now looks like it will be one of these four clubs that will take the title, but Sporting have the 'inconvenience' of having to fight on two fronts as they are still in the UEFA Cup. FC Porto
have, on paper, the easiest run-in. Remaining games are: Benfica: Belenenses (h); Penafiel (a); Sporting (h); Boavista (a)
Sporting:
Braga (a); Guimarães (h); Benfica (a); Nacional (h)
Braga: Sporting (h); Boavista (a); Beira-Mar (h); Moreirense (a)
FC Porto:
Marítimo (h); Moreirense (a); Rio Ave (a); Académica (h) Rio Ave lost their first game of the season at home, going down 0-1 to a Carlos Carneiro goal just before the break that helped
Gil Vicente put seven points between themselves and the drop and dented Rio Ave's hopes of European football.. Marítimo kept their slim hopes of Europe alive with a convincing home win against
Vitória de Setúbal, who seem to have settled for a push for the Taça. The Madeiran side were two-up before the break from Eusébio and Manduca, and went three up on 68 through Pena.
Jorginho got a consolation for Vitória from the spot on 84. Nacional's poor season continues; they went down 1-0 at União de Leiria, a goal from Ferreira
ten minutes into the second half doing the damage. 24/04/05 Sporting threw away a chance of putting real pressure on rivals Benfica by conceding a draw at home to Académica
Saturday. Sporting had most of the play and nearly all of the chances, but their shooting was off and the result stayed at 0-0. They move to equal points with Benfica, who can go three clear if they beat Estoril
in the Algarve Sunday. Boavista also threw away the chance to put some space between themselves and Vítoria de Guimarães in the race for a European place when they could only draw 1-1
at home to bottom club Moreirense, who need the points to escape the drop. Hélder Rosário
put Boavista in front on 13 minutes, heading home a free-kick from deep by Nélson. Moreirense could have been in front by half-time, but Nélson headed off the line from Manoel, and then Delfim thundered a shot against the bar. But they got the point they deserved with a volley on the turn by
Lito on 63 minutes following a neat through ball from Primo. Boavista remain in fifth. 23/04/05 Guimarães took a step back on their march towards Europe Friday with a 0-1
reverse at Belenenses, who responded well to a midweek dressing-down from their president to put in a healthy-looking diisplay. Belenenses could have been two-up within three minutes but two fine saves by
Guimarães' best player Palatsi from Rui Ferreira and Andersson kept them out. It wasn't until the 68th minute that they made their superiority pay, Paulo Sérgio
swivelling in the box to lose his marker and choose his spot. Guimarães remain in 6th, Belenenses are five points behind in 8th. 21/04/05 There is unease in many quarters about the
legitimacy, or at least ethics, of transferring this weekend's SuperLiga game between strugglers Estoril and Benfica 300 kilometers south to the Estádio do Algarve. The Estoril board
are claiming that they ar ein their rights, and that the move will bring much needed revenue to the club because of the much larger capacity (30,000 as opposed to less than 10). But Estoril badly need points to escape
relegation and would have benefited from palying at their home ground. Sporting president, Dias da Cunha, reflected the misgivings of many when he said Wednesday: "I think that behind this, there's a
certain promiscuity in terms of interests of someone [Benfica director José Veiga] who, if he doesn't have now, then once had interests in Estoril and is now, apparently, in charge of football at Benfica."
19/04/05 Sporting moved to within a point of Lisbon rivals Benfica Monday when they beat bottom club Moreirense 3-1 away. Douala
put them in front on the half hour from a Liedson pass, but they must have feared the worst on 67 minutes when Fernando
whipped a free-kick in low from the right and the ball went between Ricardo's legs. But it took only three minutes for Sporting to regain the lead, Sá Pinto
shooting the loose ball into an empty goal after João Ricardo had parried a Moutinho shot. And just five minutes later, the game was up for hapless Moreirense when Ricardo cleared up field straight into the path of
Liedson, who carried the ball on to strike crisply home for his 25th of the season. Moreirense continue bottom, now five points away from safety. 18/04/05 Sporting Braga
moved to within one point of leaders Benfica Sunday with a 2-0 win over Belenenses. Two goals midway through the first half, by Jaime (17m) and João Tomás gave Braga the points.
A wonderful strike from outside the area by Romeu gave home side Vitória de Guimarães all three points against Estoril Praia. Vitória are now just one point away from Europe (Boavista are on 28),
while Estoril are four points from safety. Académica drew away from the relegation zone with a resounding 4-1 win over Penafiel. Académica went into the break two up through Marcel and
Dário. Roberto reduced the lead early in the second half, but Dário with his second a quarter of an hour from the end and Sarmento five minutes later settled the score. A Carlos Carneiro
goal just after the hour gave Gil Vicente three precious points against Marítimo in their quest to escape relegation Nacional and Rio Ave could do no more than draw 0-0 in Madeira.
17/04/05 Benfica dropped two home points Saturday when they could only draw 1-1 with a difficult União de Leiria. It was União who went in front on 17 minutes, Caíco crossing
for central defender João Paulo to head home. União 'keeper Costinha turned in a brilliant display to keep Benfica out for most of the game until deep into added time when unmarked sub Mantorras
headed in a Simão free kick. The draw will reduce Benfica's lead at the top to just one point if either Braga, at home to Belenenses Sunday, and Sporting, at Moreirense Monday, win. FC Porto
moved to within four points of Benfica with a 2-1 win at home to Vitória de Setúbal. Vitória were without several key players, saved for Tuesday's Taça
semi-final against Boavista, but still managed to take the lead on 26 minutes through Meyong. Postiga
put Porto level five minutes from half-time, and on the hour, Ibson laced a superb ball through the Vitória defence for Quaresma
to run on and strike it first time from the edge of the area past Moretto, who had recklessly come out of his goal. 16/04/05 Boavista
seriously compromised any lingering thoughts they might have had of securing the title this season with an abject display at bottom club Beira-Mar, who scraped home 1-0, thus keeping their dreams of
SuperLiga safety alive. A dismal first half took 40 minutes to build up to a move of any note, a header from Beira-Mar's Tanque Silva saved by Carlos. The second half could not possibly have been worse, and it
did in fact produce some incident. On 57 minutes, Milhazes handled in the area, McPhee stepped up to take the kick but Carlos went down to his left to turn it wide. But the close shave did not wake Boavista up, and on
74 minutes, Beira-Mar midfielder Beto
received a throw-in on the left, cut inside (with permission from the Boavista rearguard) and unleashed a shot from a full 30 metres that shot like an arrow into the top right-hand corner of the net, with Carlos helpless. Boavista finally reacted, but the reaction came too late to produce any meaningful effect.
Beira-Mar lift themselves off the bottom, albeit dependent upon other results this weekend, while Boavista remain in 4th, but can be overtaken by FC Porto. 14/04/05 Estoril
's 'home' game against Benfica, corresponding to the 30th jornada of the SuperLiga, will be played 300 kms from both clubs ... in the Algarve, on the south coast of Portugal. Estoril are
desperate to cash in on the wave of enthusiasm that is carrying the best supported club in the country, Benfica, to a possible first title in ten years. It was mooted that the game could be played in the tiny António
Coimbra da Mota
stadium in Estoril, with possibly a temporary stand built at one end to accommodate the Benfica hordes. Then there was the idea of playing the game in the National Stadium, located between Estoril and Lisbon, or even playing it at the Luz. But Estoril have finally plumped for the Algarve and the stadium that was purpose-built for Euro 2004, with a capacity of 30,000.
12/04/05 1-0 was the favourite score in games for the 28th jornada this weekend. Sporting Braga joined Sporting in second place in the SuperLiga
Monday with a narrow 1-0 win at Estoril, who had the best chances of the game and can count themselves unlucky to be left with no points on the night and continuing in the relegation zone. Jõao Tomás
got the only goal on 17 minutes. Earlier, neither Belenenses nor Académica could find the net and it ended 0-0 at a bare Restelo Stadium. On Sunday
, The two Lisbon giants had opposite fortunes. Benfica lost 0-1 at Rio Ave thanks to a goal in added time from Miguelito, following a charge to the line on the right and low cross by sub
Saulo. Rio Ave have not been beaten at home for 14 months. The defeat shortens Benfica's lead at the top to three points, ahead of Sporting and Sporting Braga. Sporting won 1-0 at home to 'Red Lantern'
Beira-Mar, but their goal was also in the dying minutes, the ball bouncing in off Liedson's thigh after a Polga header had rebounded off a post. Earlier, McPhee had headed what seemed to be a valid goal
over Ricrado, but it was given as offside. Beira-Mar are four points off safety at the bottom. Vitória de Guimarães continue their drive towards European football with a 1-0 win at União de Leiria
. Their goal, by Marco Ferreira, keeps them in 6th, four points behind FC Porto and two in front of Rio Ave. Penafiel are looking safer as each jornada goes by. This time they beat Moreirense
with a goal on half time by Roberto. Moreirense remain second from bottom. Vitória de Setúbal and Gil Vicente could only draw 0-0, leaving Vitória in mid-table and Gil just above the
water line. On Saturday, Boavista got their first double in their history over their bitter city rivals FC Porto with a 1-0 win. Cadú
with a header at the back post from a Lucas free kick on 52 minutes put Boavista above Porto in the table by dint of their superior record over the Dragons in the two league games this season. Both teams are six points adrift of Benfica at the top.
09/04/05 Marítimo beat local Madeiran rivals Nacional 2-1 Friday, kicking off the 28th jornada, but they left it until the dying minutes to get the result.
Fernando put them in front on 38 minutes, Adriano levelled for Nacional four minutes into the second half, and Ferreira kept Marítimo's European dream alive a minute from time. 05/04/05 Sporting Braga continued as dark horses in the chase for the SuperLiga title Monday with a 1-0 home win over União de Leiria. Vandinho
got the all-important goal on 39 minutes that keeps Braga second, ont he same points as FC Porto and Sporting but six points behind Benfica. 04/04/05 Benfica beat Marítimo 4-3
in a thrilling encounter at a well-filled Luz Sunday to maintain their six-point lead at the top of the SuperLiga. In a crazy first half-hour, Nuno Gomes put Benfica in front on six minutes,
Pena equalised a minute later, Pena put through his own goal five minutes after that and Nuno Gomes volleyed in a Geovanni cross on 22 minutes, before Marítimo captain Van der Gaag
reduced the score to 3-2 on 28. Three minutes into the second half, Pena got his second to make it all square, and the game could have gone either way until with five mniutes left, local hero Pedro Mantorras
jumped in to poke home a loose ball. FC Porto made hard work of it to dispatch modest Gil Vicente
at home, but in the end it was the three points that counted, and Porto had won their first home game in the SuperLiga since December. Hélder Postiga
got the all-important goal on 37 minutes from a corner by Quaresma. The two bottom clubs both lost at home, and their coaches resigned. Bottom club Beira-Mar
seemed like they were heading for a positive result when McPhee scored on 17 minutes, but they collapsed in the second half. Roberto equalised for Penafiel on the hour, Wesley
extended their lead five minutes later and Clayton clinched the result five minutes from time. Beira-Mar's third coach of the season, Luís Campos handed in his resignation after the game.
Second from bottom club Moreirense also lost their coach, Vítor Oliveira, who resigned after the 0-1 home defeat at the hands of Belenenses, for whom ´keeper Marco Aurélio performed wonders.
A late goal from Belenenses defender Sousa had Moreirense fans waving white handkerchiefs, and Vítor Oliveira was on his way. Académica defender José Castro
put his side in front from a Hugo Leal corner on just seven minutes, and it was enough to give Os Estudantes
all three points against Estoril and lift them out of trouble at the bottom, while Estoril are third from bottom.. Vitória de Setúbal, still with Europe in mind, brought three points back from Madeira with a
clear win over Nacional. They went in at half-time 1-0 up through star player Jorginho, and went further ahead five minutes into the second half through Bruno Morais. Wendell
gave Nacional some hope, but Jorginho got his second near the end to make it 1-3. 03/04/05 Sporting kept their title hopes alive Saturday with a resounding 4-0
thumping of rivals Boavista, and on Boavista's turf for only their second home defeat of the season. Boavista were hoping to offset the 6-1 thrashing at Sporting earlier in the season, but after a bright
start, it just didn't happen. It took only 20 minutes for Sporting to open the scoring, Pedro Barbosa passing for the Liga's top scorer Liedson
to fire past William. And it took only another ten minutes for them to go further ahead, Beto heading in from a corner. Boavista applied pressure in the second half and came close on a number of occasions, but
their ship was irreparably holed on 67 minutes when Éder brought down Sá Pinto in the box and was sent off, Liedson
scoring from the spot. Coach Jaime Pacheco followed Éder on 74 minutes after protests, and five minutes later Carlos Martins, on as sub, put the final nail in Boavista's coffin.
There was trouble off the pitch at the break and after the game. Boavista claim that Ricardo Sá Pinto, playing in his 200th SuperLiga game, hit one of their directors, João Freitas. And at the end, there were
scuffles in the tunnel and Boavista´s William and Sporting's Rui Jorge and Sá Pinto were red-carded by referee Lucílio Baptista. Sporting are three points behind Benfica
, who receive Marítimo Sunday. Boavista are fourth, three points behind Sporting. 02/04/05 Rio Ave chalked up their 15th draw of the season Friday, 0-0 at Vitória
de Guimarães. They were hamstrung after only 20 minutes with the seemingly unjustified sending off of defender Denielson, but with the help of 'keeper Mora, they managed to hold out for the rest of the game. Vitória
reamain in 6th, four points behind Boavista and two ahead of Rio Ave. |
