Boavista 1-2 Chaves; Santa Clara 1-3 Rio Ave; Maritimo 0-0 Belenenses; Setubal 0-2 Porto
Porto overcame a resilient Setubal to win 2-0 despite heavy pressure from their opponents while the score was just 1-0, while Rio Ave overcame newly promoted Santa Clara to jump up to 5th in the table, the position that they finished in last campaign.
Elsewhere, Boavista fell to a surprise 2-1 home defeat to Chaves on Friday, while Maritimo and Belenenses shared the points in a 0-0 dead-rubber.
Boavista’s defeat means that they sit just 1 point above the relegation zone having played a game more than all the sides below them, with Marcao getting the first goal for Chaves from the penalty spot in the 36th minute, before Helton Leite scored an own goal just after the break. Rochinha’s well-placed strike on the hour mark was nothing more than a consolation for the hosts.
In Santa Clara’s eventful clash with Rio Ave, we had to wait until the 70th minute for the first goal, a close-range finish from Vinicius, before the second came just 4 minutes later, when Galeno’s high strike went in off the post to give Rio Ave a 2-0 lead. Then, on the 78th minute, the ball once again ended up in the back of the net, this time an own goal from the opening goalscorer Vinicius, who headed the ball beyond his own goalkeeper, giving Santa Clara a lifeline.
But it was Rio Ave who got the final goal in the game, which also saw two red cards awarded, one of which came for Joao Lucas after his foul in the penalty area, with Schmidt converting from the spot in the 95th minute.
Porto, meanwhile, were given a stern test by an impressive Setubal side, with Vidigal’s men fighting until the last minute. Porto’s first goal came after a rather scrappy affair, with Aboubakar powering his shot home after Maxi Pereia’s close-range shot was saved by Joel Pereira.
Setubal were not disheartened though and pushed for the equaliser, with perhaps their best spell coming in the closing half an hour of the game, where they scored a goal that was only disallowed due to a VAR review. Porto managed to put the game to bed with just 12 minutes to go though, with Sergio Oliveira’s long-range free-kick fired powerfully into the back of the net low beyond Joel Pereira.
The result sees Porto jump up to 1st in the table, 2 points clear of the trailing trio of Benfica, Braga and Sporting, but having played a game more than all three.
