In an exhilarating encounter, Porto maintained its unblemished play under new manager André Villas Boas with a come from behind 3-2 victory over Braga at Estádio do Dragão. With the result Os Dragões open up a portly four-point advantage at the top of the Liga Portuguesa table over Vitória de Guimarães who defeated Benfica on Friday, with Braga sitting a point behind in the third spot.

Coming off their victory over Rio Ave before the international break, the Porto tactician made no changes to his starting eleven. In an explosive start, Luis Aguiar, on-loan from Dinamo Moskva, gave Braga the lead a minute past the quarter-hour with dipping free kick past Helton, the first goal surrendered for the Porto goalkeeper this season. Down by one, Hulk, as he has down so often, took matters into his own hands, first sending a free kick off the cross bar before being the architect for the leveller. Twelve minutes shy of the break, the former Tokyo Verdy striker surged past Braga defenders before sending a cross from the right byline that Silvestre Varela nodded in from close range.

Just past the hour, Lima restored Braga’s lead with a booming drive from thirty-plus metres, yet as with the opener it only served to call Hulk into action. Only two minutes later, Hulk latched onto Álvaro Pereira’s clever provision before drilling to ball to the back of the net to square the contest at two. With twenty-minutes remaining in regulation time, Silvestre Varela notched the second of his evening as, after accepting the ball from Radamel Falcao, he drove it in from a tight angle on the left of the box to give Porto the lead they would not relinquish. The final twenty minutes saw quality efforts at either end of the pitch but without further incident the match concluded with Porto claiming the 3-2 victory.

Prepared by J. Davies
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Portimonense return to the top flight of Portuguese football after a twenty-year absence was spoiled as the fell 3-1 to Braga at The Quarry.

Os Arsenalistas started with a vengeance forcing visiting ‘keeper Pedro Silva into a number of solid stops. However, two minutes shy of the half-hour Braga grabbed the 1-0 lead as Matheus powerfully headed in Alan’s long diagonal free kick from the left. The visitors showed good resolve after following behind, with Braga ‘keeper Felipe, recently arrived from Corinthians, stretched out to deny Eduardo Jumisse’s close range header. Just before the break, Braga doubled the margin as Paulo César accepted Lima’s headed pass and drilled the ball into the bottom left corner of the net from just outside the area.

At the restart, Portimonense manager Litos summoned the enterprising young Venezuelan Louis Anyelo Peña after and it was not long till the visitors began to threaten Braga. Six minutes shy of the hour, Eduardo Jumisse, from close-range sent in an in-swinging free kick to pull Portimonense. Braga manager Domingos Paciência immediately added Luis Aguiar, on loan from Dynamo Moscow, into the fray as they looked to settle the visitors attack. After a number of close calls that narrowly missed levelling the affair, newly arrived from Nacional, Leandro Salino, surged in off the right channel and following a smooth cut back drilled the ball into the net to bring the match to a 3-1 final.

Domingos Paciência’s side return to play next Wednesday against Sevilla in Champions League play prior to their visit of Vitória de Setúbal on Saturday.

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In a stunning Derby do Minho, Braga continued its pursuit of Benfica for the Liga Portuguesa crown with a last gasp victory over rivals Vitória de Guimarães at the Quarry. With the result Domingos Paciência’s side holds down second place in the table, three points off Benfica.

Rui Miguel gave Guimarães the lead at the eighteenth minute as he latched onto a loose ball at the edge of the area and immediately powered a right footed drive into the back of the net. Four minutes before the hour a free-kick into the wall saw Guimarães adjudged a highly controversial hand ball and the spot pointed to. In the ensuing effort, Alan hammered the ball into the net to square the match. With thirteen minutes remaining Wason Rentería was played through but in a last gasp challenge by Valdomiro the ball drifted wide. However, in another questionable decision the defender was adjudged a professional foul, set off with a red-card and a penalty awarded. As tensions were boiling over, Albert Meyong confidently stepped-up and gave Braga the 2-1 lead. As regulation time wound down, a cross into the Braga box saw Alberto Rodríguez adjudged for a penalty for bringing down a Guimarães attacker Roberto. Andrézinho brought the match even again, setting the stage for a peculiar finish. Moments later, Andrézinho was adjudged his second yellow card for bringing Wason Rentería down in the area. To add to the mix, Guimarães lost both Jorge Gonçalves and João Alves with red cards before Albert Meyong sent the penalty in for the 3-2 victory.

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Braga slipped off Benfica’s pace with a shocking nil draw to relegation threatened Vitória de Setúbal at Estádio do Bonfim. With the result Braga is level with Benfica, who play tomorrow, at the top of  the Liga Portuguesa, whilst Vitória de Setúbal sits at the fourteenth spot.

Domingos Paciência’s side suggested little attacking venom prior to the break and it was in-fact Setúbal who posted the few, rare chances. Though Braga was able to create a few chances in the second-half for Alan and Albert Ze Meyong, neither was much of a threat to Setúbal ‘keeper Nuno Santos and the match ended as a scoreless draw.

Braga returns to play on Saturday as they welcome Rio Ave to “the Quarry”, whilst Vitória de Setúbal visits Leixões on Sunday.

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Braga withstood an early charge by relegation threatened Olhanense in route to a 3-1 victory at the Quarry. By days end, Braga maintained its second spot in Liga Portuguesa table, one off Benfica, whilst Olhanense at thirteenth.

Jorge Costa’s visiting side took the lead at the quarter-hour as Djalmir rose high in the box to head in Castro’s cross from the right. Down by one, Braga immediately launched forward for the equalizer six minutes later found it as Matheus latched onto a poorly played long ball by defender Tengarrinha that saw him gifted a chance from ten metres out that made not mistake with. The blunder took the wind from the visitors sails and seven minutes shy of the break Evaldo, from six metres out, headed in Paulo César chipped cross from the right to give Braga the 2-1 lead. With clear momentum, Braga doubled its lead five minutes shy of the hour as Paulo César surged down the left flank before laying the ball, from the by-line, to Albert Meyong, who scored from eleven metres.

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Porto served notice that they are not about to give up their crown without a fight as they overwhelmed Braga 5-1 at the Estádio do Dragão. With the result Os Dragões maintain their third place spot in the Liga Portuguesa, trailing leaders Benfica by six points, whilst Braga holding down the second place.

Jesualdo Ferreira’s men were in clear control of the match from the opening whistle. At the quarter-hour, Raúl Meireles gave Porto the 1-0 lead as surge into the box to redirected Silvestre Varela’s cross from the left flank into the net. Four minutes past the half-hour Álvaro Pereira doubled the margin as he sent a powerful swerving drive from thirty-plus metres to the bottom right corner of the net. Only a minute later Porto’s sharpshooter Falcao effectively put the match away in a carbon copy of the first goal as he sent Silvestre Varela’s cross from the left flank into the net. Braga was showing little going forward and with seventeen minutes remaining Falcao made it 4-0 as he headed in a corner from the left. Porto’s Fernando Belluschi added to the margin with seven minutes remaining before Alan notched a consolation goal for Braga but it matters little as the defending champions 5-1.

Porto returns to play next Sunday against bitter foe Sporting at Estádio José Alvalade.

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With much owing to a highly controversial refereeing decision, Braga edged Marítimo 2-1 at Estádio AXA. The result pushes Braga to within a point of first-place Benfica in the hunt for the Liga Portuguesa crown, though they have a match in-hand, whilst Marítimo sit at the seventh spot.

After an uneventful opening half, Braga took the 1-0 lead at the fifty-first minute as Alan volleyed a long free kick from the left from the back post to Albert Meyong who nodded the ball in. The lead did not last long as Djalma Campos latched onto a loose ball just outside the area before firing it into the net to square the match. It appeared the contest would end as a draw when Braga scored the winner with nine minutes remaining, courtesy of a missed call as the ball had clearly rolled at least a metre over the touchline before being played back in by Filipe Oliveira. However, after working the ball into the box and Marítimo failed to clear, Luis Aguiar, on-loan from Dinamo Moskva, lashed the ball to the back of the net. The call, a shocking miss, cost Marítimo dearly as they were unable to respond and Braga laid claim to the 2-1 victory.

Brago returns to play on Sunday as they face Porto at the Estádio do Dragão, whilst Marítimo welcomes Nacional da Madeira to Estádio dos Barreiros in Funchal, Madeira Islands on Friday.

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Braga fought off being a man down for much of the match to defeat relegation threatened Belenenses 3-1 at Estádio do Restelo in Lisbon. With the result, Domingos Paciência’s side climb within a single point of Benfica at the top of the Liga Portuguesa table, whilst Belenenses rest at the bottom.

Despite their lowly position, the hosts put forth a superb performance that defied their problematic campaign. Just past quarter-hour mark, Belenenses was gifted a chance the lead when Moisés was adjudged a penalty for bringing down Lima in the area, with the veteran sent off quickly with a second yellow-card. However, in the ensuing effort Braga goalkeeper Eduardo saved Lima’s effort in what turned out to be a brilliant evening for him. The hosts continued to dominate the run of play but were unable to breakthrough the curmudgeonly defence of Braga. At the fortieth minute Domingos Paciência called upon Matheus for Miguel Hugo Viana and in added-time Luis Aguiar, on-loan from Dinamo Moscow, delivered a free kick into the box that Paulo César nodded in for the 1-0 lead.

Not deterred, Belenenses showed attacking venom returning from the break but once again, Eduardo walled up to deny their advances. After holding back two goal bound efforts, Matheus surged down the right flank before firing acute angled effort into the net from ten metres. With seventeen minutes remaining Wason Rentería put the match away as he dislodged the ball from Marcos António, before coming in off the left flank and sending a Bestesque chip over ‘keeper Bruno Vale to give Braga the comfortable 3-0 lead. Belenenses fought gamely to get on the scoreboard and after a number of efforts came up short, Jean Paul Yontcha sent in a rebound at the eightieth minute. The hosts continued to pressure but the match concluded without further incident as Braga laid claim to the three points with a 3-1 victory.

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SC Braga regained its lead in the Liga Portuguesa with a narrow 1-0 victory over Sporting at the Quarry. With the result, Domingos Paciência’s brilliant premier campaign in charge of Braga continues as his side edge back to first place, three points above Benfica, whilst Sporting languishes at fourth, only three points above Nacional.

Despite the score-line, Sporting controlled the run of play for much of the match. Flourishing runs by João Pereira and a series of fine touches by former Lokomotiv Moskva man Marat Izmailov put the Lisbon powerhouse to within a whisper of breaking the deadlock, yet with each opportunity the final touch was lacking. Though hardly deserving of the lead, Braga brought their fans to their feet a morsel past the half-hour via a highly opportunistic deflection. Surging down the left flank, Paulo César alluded Miguel Veloso and João Pereira before unleashing an effort that struck Tonel before nestling into the net past ‘keeper Rui Patrício. With the one goal disadvantage, the Leões charged back with both Carlos Saleiro and Liédson coming close to finding the equalizer. Challenges were becoming highly physical and on a number of occasions it appeared the referee João Ferreira was close to losing control of the affair.

After a cautious re-start, much of the play was a box to box with few chances. With twenty minutes, remaining Carlos Carvalhal summoned Sinama Pongolle into the line-up and the Le Havre-product, recent arrived from Atlético Madrid began to stir up trouble. With roughly ten minutes remaining Sporting ‘keeper Rui Patrício looked to have suffered a troubling injury but after a lengthy delay he managed to limp back between the posts and notch a number of stunning saves. However, after seven minutes of added time, the match concluded without further incident as Braga laid claim to the 1-0 victory.

Sporting returns to play next Saturday as they visit Académica de Coimbra, whilst Braga challenges Belenenses on Monday.

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In less than convincing fashion, Braga extended its unbeaten run to six matches with a 2-0 victory over Académica at Estádio Cidade de Coimbra. With the result, Braga maintains its top spot in the Liga Portuguesa, whilst Académica nestle in at the eleventh spot, only three points above relegation danger.

Despite what the score suggest, Domingos Paciência’s side were unable to muster much of attack against Académica’s curmudgeonly defensive tactics. Scoring chances at a premium and it appeared the match would remain scoreless at the break until disaster struck for the hosts at the forty-first minute. Working up from the left by-line Mossoró cut into the box between two Académica defenders but with little contact, Pedrinho was assessed a penalty and the spot was pointed to. The call was highly questionable but in quick succession, Albert Meyong calmly stroked the ball into the net. After the break, Académica were noble in their effort but unable to find the needed touch to square the match. In the final minute of time, a long ball into Académica end saw goalkeeper Rui Nereu surge beyond the area only to see him red-carded for a handball. With their ‘keeper expelled and out of substitutions Lica was handed the mitts to defend the free kick. Matheus stepped up and whilst Lica put forth a brilliant effort getting his fingers on the ball, it glanced into the upper part of the net to secure the 2-0 victory.

Braga returns to play next Friday in a key battle as they welcome Sporting, whilst Académica de Coimbra travels to face Paços de Ferreira at Estádio da Mata Real.

Prepared by J. Davies
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