Benfica entered their encounter versus Belenenses, on the hallowed turf of Jamor, with some degree of caution having dropped a grand total of five points against their Lisbon counterparts just last season.
Both sides had first-half chances but it remained goal-less at the interval. The Eagles eventually found their way through, courtesy of some fine interplay between Pizzi and Rafa Silva with the latter arrowing home the opening goal thirteen minutes after the restart.
A mistake inside the box at the other end from young Nuno Tavares almost proved costly for Benfica but all Nicolas Vélez could do was drag a left-footed strike wide across the face of goal. VAR stepped in to deny Swiss international Haris Seferovi a second goal ten minutes from time but in stoppage time the Primeira Liga champions were able to breathe a sigh of relief after a piercing run from Rafa provided skipper Pizzi with the opportunity to make it 2-0 and calm the nerves of the Benfiquistas.
The pressure was sky high on Sérgio Conceição and his Porto players after an opening-day defeat to Gil Vicente and failure to qualify for the UEFA Champions League versus Russian outfit Krasnodar. The Dragons went hell-for-leather from the opening minute at home to V.Setúbal and deservedly took the lead after eleven minutes through Zé Luis. The Cape Verdean striker added a second ten minutes later and completed his hat-trick on the hour mark. The former Spartak Moscow player then went on to provide the crucial pass for Moussa Marega to attack down the by-line, as the Malian picked out Luis Díaz for the fourth and final goal of the game.
Sporting claimed their first win of the season after defeating SC Braga 2-1 at the Alvalade. The Lions, previously winless throughout pre-season on top of their opening couple of fixtures in the new campaign, got their goals in early before fighting tooth-and-nail in the second-half to keep their lead intact.
Brazilian 21 year-old midfielder Marcus Wendel prodded home the opening goal on sixteen minutes and Bruno Fernandes, who failed to make his dream move to the English Premier League, was on hand to make it 2-0 on the brink of half-time. Nuno Sequeira went close for Braga, driving a low shot against the post but Wilson Eduardo was on hand to slip the rebound under advancing keeper Renan twenty minutes from full-time.
The Arsenalistas could manage little else in the dying moments of the game as Sporting fought to claim all three points.
SC Portimonense won 2-1 at Tondela thanks to first-half goals from Aylton and Iury Lirio. On Sunday Portimonense entertain Sporting Lisbon at the Estádio Municipal de Portimão, kick-off 6.30pm