Benfica have found goals hard to come by of late and it was no difference at lowly Moreirense.
The reigning champions were lucky not to be down to ten men after half-an-hour when a Luisão rash challenge on Boateng warranted a red but only received a yellow. There was also a question mark surrounding the foul on Nélson Semedo by Ousmane Dramé, five minutes before the break. Benfica took full advantage of the set-piece as Kostas Mitroglou headed home for the only goal of the game. FC Porto entertained Lisbon side, Belenenses, and took the lead through Danilo as he volleyed home André Silva’s knockdown, eight minutes before the break. Soares added a second, midway through the second-half, for his seventeenth goal of the season.
Five minutes later and it was game over as a dubious foul on Yacine Brahimi inside the box allowed the Algerian international to tuck home the resulting
penalty.
Sporting thumped Boavista 4-0 with Bas Dost netting a hat-trick to bring his total to twenty-seven for the season which takes him level with Messi at the top of the Golden Shoe leader board. The Dutch international has now scored nine of Sporting’s last twelve goals as Europe’s top strikers vie for the prestigious Golden Shoe, with Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski a goal behind Messi and Dost, whilst Torino’s Andrea Belotti and Roma man Edin Dzeko are deadlocked on twenty-four goals in Serie A.
Everton’s Romelu Lukaku moved on to twenty-three goals for the Premier League outfit as his brace helped beat champions Leicester City 4-2.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the only player to have won the honour four times, is well off the pace with nineteen goals.