Moreirense 1-3 Sporting; Braga 4-2 Nacional; Maritimo 1-0 Santa Clara; Feirense 2-0 Rio Ave
Four more league fixtures occurred today as the league campaign well and truly gets underway, and two of the 'Big Four' in the country were in action.
Early in the day, this year's Europa League competitors Rio Ave - who were knocked out of the continental competition before it had barely started after a 5-4 aggregate defeat in the third qualifying round to Jagiellonia Bialystok - were shocked again after falling to a 2-0 defeat to Feirense courtesy of goals from Tiago Silva and Edinho, while newly promoted Santa Clara put up a brave fight and gave their fans a lot to be optimistic about against Maritimo; always a tough place to play away, Santa Clara will be pleased with their efforts as they fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat on the island of Madeira.
Both Sporting and Braga were in action later in the day, with both sides looking to make a push for a Champions League spot for this upcoming campaign. Sporting got off to a poor start against Moreirense, with Nani, who only returned to the club for a third stint this summer, seeing yellow after just 100 seconds of football had been played, while Moreirense's Tavares then put the hosts in front within the first 6 minutes to shock the away supporters.
Sporting were not behind for long though, with eventual man of the match Bruno Fernandes equalising in the sixteenth minute. Bas Dost - who, like Bruno, returned to Sporting having rescinded his contract with the club earlier in the summer - made things even better for the Lisbon club, converting his penalty in the 74th to put his side in front for the first time in the match. He then confirmed the victory with a last-minute goal to bag himself a brace and all three points for his side.
Braga, on the other hand, took on Nacional, and got off to the perfect start thanks to Dyego Sousa, who scored in the opening few minutes to ease the home crowd into the game. The lead only last 20 minutes though, after a penalty was converted by Moreirense forward Bryan Rochez.
There were a further two goals in the first half, both the same scorers as before and in the same order, with Sousa putting Braga back in front on 32 minutes, before Roches equalised six minutes later.
While it was 2-2 at half time, Braga always looked the team likely to go on and win the match, and it was Ricardo Horta who was the game changer after the break, joining Dyego Sousa by getting a brace, and giving Braga a 4-2 victory to get their domestic season off to the perfect start.
Sporting's 3-1 victory coupled with Braga's 4-2 win over Nacional meant that the big four socred a combined total of 20 goals in their opening fixtures, with the big four all getting off to the perfect start as more high-scoring affairs take place.
