Benfica put their recent poor form behind them with a convincing 4-0 victory over Feirense at the Estádio da Luz whilst Sporting travelled to Rio Ave and continued their excellent form under new coach Marcel Keizer with a 3-1 win. SC Braga maintained their interest in the title race as they saw off Moreirense 2-0 at the Quarry.
Primeira Liga leaders FC Porto had won their previous nine games in all competitions before their trip across the city to take on struggling Boavista.
In a typically feisty derby there was no quarter given with tackles flying in throughout the game and referee Hugo Miguel at times struggling to keep a lid on the aggression. The best chance of the first-half fell to Porto’s Brahimi but he was denied by a point-blank save from Boavista keeper Helton Leite.
The Brazilian goalkeeper was again in action shortly after the break as he did well to save from Marega.
Felipe headed a good chance over, and when Tiquinho Soares finally had the ball in the net it was ruled out for offside. Héctor Herrera then missed a glaring chance for Porto.
Just as a goalless draw seemed inevitable and with the Boavista fans in full voice, Porto nicked all three points in the last minute of stoppage time.
Substitutes Adrián López and Hernâni looked as if they might squander the chance but Hernâni knocked the ball into the net to trigger wild celebrations among the Porto contingent – so much so that coach Sérgio Conceição was issued a red card.
After the heavy defeat in Germany against Bayern Munich and the subsequent admission from president Luís Filipe Vieira that he had considered sacking coach Rui Vitória before having a change of heart, the much-maligned manager was looking for a strong reaction from his players.
It was not forthcoming in the first-half, when only a Pizzi free kick threatened to break the deadlock.
The second-half was a different story as Jonas showed great skill to open the Eagles account two minutes after the break. The goal was the spark that ignited Benfica as Jonas and Rafa ripped into the visitors’ defence with devastating effect. Nascimento then scored in his own net in a desperate attempt to prevent Jonas from scoring before Rafa got a well-deserved goal.
Substitute Seferovic added a fourth late on. Sporting, under new Dutch coach Marcel Keizer, produced another sparkling performance with three goals and three points to keep them in contention at the top.
The visitors got off to the perfect start as a quickly taken free-kick saw Nani and Bruno Fernandes combine well, with the latter firing a low shot into the corner of the net after just eight minutes.
The lead was short lived as Schmidt equalised four minutes later with a well-taken free-kick. Bas Dost’s powerful header, from an excellent Acuña cross, midway through the first-half restored the Lions lead.
Sporting made it 3-1 with twenty minutes remaining as substitute Jovane Cabral curled a stupendous shot into the top corner of the net from some twenty-five metres.
SC Braga netted twice in the first twenty-five minutes, firstly when Wilson Eduardo converted from the spot after twelve minutes and the secondly in spectacular fashion with Paulinho thrashing a magnificent left-footed volley into the top corner to double the home team’s lead in the twenty-fifth minute.
SC Portimonense moved up to tenth place in the Primeira Liga with a 3-2 home win over Tondela.
The visitors took the lead in the first minute through Xavier but the home side, in front of a disappointing crowd of 2,383, went in at the break leading 3-1 thanks to goals from Paulinho (16’), Jackson (28’) and Shoya (45’).
Tondela reduced the arrears in the sixty-third minute via Tomane but the home side hung on to record their fourth win if the season. At the top FC Porto lead the way with twenty-seven points, two ahead of Sporting (25) who are followed by SC Braga (24) and Benfica (23).