A roundup of the 'Liga Portugal 2' Action - Gameweek 10

As another round of Liga Portugal 2 action gets underway, here is a look back at the tenth gameweek of Portugal’s second division, which saw plenty of intriguing results. Brought to you by José Almeida, here is an in-depth summary of all the matches. You can follow José on Twitter - @IwasJoseAlmeida.

Ac Viseu v Penafiel

Over two weeks have passed since the majority of sides last played in Liga Portugal II. Second-bottom of the table Viseu take on a Penafiel side who have more troubles keeping the ball out of the net rather than in it. The break could be a blessing for Viseu though, using the extra time to reflect on their performances and the changes they need to make to pick up more points. Pedro Duarte’s Viseu have yet to win a game on home soil so far, and with only four goals this season they are currently the lowest-scoring team in the whole of Liga Portugal 2. It's easy to see why Duarte’s men are in this predicament, defensively they are pretty solid and once again they showed that as both sides laboured to a goalless draw. Both Viseu and Penafiel each had their chances to win but a draw was a fair result. Full-Time Ac Viseu 0-0 Penafiel

Cova da Piedade v Feirense

Cova were riding high last month after two consecutive wins against Viseu and Leixões. Life comes at you fast though; after their victories a Covid outbreak amongst the Boys of Azul-Grená meant their break started prematurely and under unwanted conditions. Cova played their games in hand during the break, receiving a 5-1 thrashing to Estoril who strolled back to the top of the table. An unconvincing penalty win over third division side A.C. Marinhense in the Taça de Portugal did little to lift Toni Pereira’s boys. In the remaining unplayed fixture, a winless Benfica B even managed to head back over the Tagus River Bridge with all three points, their first victory since mid-September. Feirense look like a real contender this season but a slip up against Arouca last Jornada poses some questions about The Blues. No answers were to be found on match-day ten though as Cova held Feirense to a 0-0 stalemate even without the services of Thabo Cele for the final ten minutes after the South African picked up two yellow cards. A decent result for Cova - however, Feirense’s promotion hopes take yet another dent. Full-Time Cova 0-0 Feirense

Académica v Sporting Covilhã

3rd met 7th, in Sunday’s 11:15 contest, with Académica hoping to not give any advantages to Mafra and Estoril in the Liga, and end up full of regrets like Feirense. Standing in their way was an in-form Covilhã who before the break managed to win three games in a row under Capucho who joined in September. The Lions of the Mountain (best nickname in world football) momentum may have been halted by the break but it was definitely stopped when they lost to Campeonato de Portugal side Salgueiros in the Taça de Portugal. A win is important for either side; it could even see Covilhã move just four points behind Académica. However, Académica had no intention of giving up points. Covilhã controlled the game and had the possession but it was not enough. Académica took their chances, former Covilhã player João Traquina opening the scoring after only 15-minutes before his strike-partner Mohamed Bouldini grabbed his fifth goal of the season and Briosa’s second before half-time. Covilhã played well but the early goals sealed their fate, Rui Areias managed to get his first goal of the season for Covilhã only moments before the final whistle. Académica now sits level on points with 2nd place Mafra. Full-Time Académica 2-1 Covilhã

Estoril v Vizela

Estoril are a team who have only dropped four points all season, while Vizela began November losing their third game in a row and winless in five. Vizela hope they’ve turned a corner after they sealed a victory in their last matchup against Leixões. The Liga Portugal 2 newcomers have no problems in the goal-scoring department, failing to score in only one game this season. Top of the table Estoril are the best team in the Liga so far this season. Sadly for Estoril though, Vizela don’t care, all this Vizela team wants to do is score goals. Estoril defended well and winger Harramiz even managed to open the scoring with his fourth goal of the season. The men from the riviera went into half-time with the lead whilst also managing to keep a free-flowing Vizela side quiet without a single shot on target, not an easy task. Defensive midfielder João Gamboa even grabbed his first-ever Estoril goal in the second half, a goal that looked set to see Estoril continue their march towards promotion. Vizela only understands goals though; refusing to give up they ramped up the pressure. Kiki Afonso pulling one back just before the hour mark. The match looked gone and Estoril seemed likely to extend their lead at the top of the table. It wasn’t to be for the Canaries though, as not for the first time winger Tavinho played his role of super-sub perfectly grabbing Vizela’s equaliser well into injury time in the 96th minute. The last minutes’ drama of the match also included red cards for Estoril players, André Vidigal and João Diogo. Estoril stays top but Mafra has the opportunity to overtake them with a win on Monday evening. Full-Time Estoril 2-2 Vizela

Arouca v Porto B

Sunday evening’s Liga Portugal 2 game pitted hosts Arouca against the Young Dragons, Porto B. Arouca themselves started life as an affiliation club of FC Porto, now they would like nothing more than to be in the Primeira Liga facing the Dragons next season. Arouca have been in great form before the break while Porto B have lost their last four consecutive games. As we’ve seen so far from this weekends matches, the momentum you earned in the last games means nothing anymore. Rui Barros’s struggling Young Dragons finally picked up a victory in a game where three first-half goals proved too much for Arouca to overturn. FC Porto manager Sérgio Conceição’s 17-year-old son Francisco grabbed the opener after only four minutes. Young English prospect Danny Loader then grabbed the Young Dragons second of the game, when the ball found him free in the box to claim his third of the season. André Silva gave Arouca some hope when he grabbed a goal back for the hosts a couple of minutes later, not long after though the referee awarded Porto B a chance to increase their lead from the penalty spot. Loader stepped up and calmly converted past Arouca GK Fernando Castro his fourth goal of the season and third from the penalty spot. The second-half was all Arouca but the chances Porto took in the first-half where enough to see them through, even after Arouca substitute Eli grabbed a goal to make the last few minutes a nervy encounter. Full-Time Arouca 2-3 Porto B

Benfica B v Varzim

Benfica B found themselves in the relegation zone not too long ago, a win in their rescheduled game against Cova da Piedade last time out meant Renato Paiva’s Eagles ended their streak of six defeats in a row. They welcome a Varzim side who will hope they can start picking up some more points. Manager Miguel Leal picked up his first point whilst in charge of Varzim last time out but his Alvi-Negros are still winless in their last eight Liga Portugal 2 fixtures. Both teams haven’t often been pretty to watch this season and its no surprise this game was decided by just the one scrappy goal. The hero of the match was 19-year-old Brazilian centre back Morato. The Sao Paulo born defender’s goal just after half-time proved to be the winner that sent Benfica B up to 9th position, Varzim remains dead last. Full-Time Benfica B 1-0 Varzim

Mafra v Vilafranquense

Some Monday night football on show, as Mafra take on Vilafranquense. After Estoril let Vizela back into the game on Sunday to share a point, Mafra has been handed the opportunity to go back to the top of the II Liga. Tonight is João Tralhão’s third game in charge of Vilafranquense, two consecutive 0-0 draws means UDV still remain close to the relegation zone. However, Piranhas do Tejo seem like a new team under the leadership of Tralhão and could prove to be a hard outfit to break down once again. Filipe Cândido found this out for himself as his Mafra side were consistently shut out by the opposition. Vilafranquense took the lead early on after the ref judged the ball to have struck Mafra centre-back João Cunha’s arm, Carlos Fortes stepped up and powered the ball to the right leaving veteran-keeper and former UDV player João Godinho with no chance of producing a save. The rest of the game Mafra dominated most of the possession but made very few chances. In the end, it was a massive first three-points for João Tralhão and his fighting Vilafranquense team. Full-Time Mafra 0-1 Vilafranquense

Chaves v Casa Pia

Jornada Ten concluded with 6th place Chaves facing off against 14th positioned Casa Pia. A victory for Chaves could see Carlos Pinto’s Valentes Trasmontanos climb up to 4th, with Académica, Mafra, & Estoril all well within their reach. Casa Pia lack consistency but Os Gansos have shown their quality at times this season. It's obvious the break helped rejuvenate some teams and fortunately for Filipe Martins his Casa side is one of them. Tonight's match started much like Monday evening’s match, a penalty was awarded to Casa Pia when João Correia brought down Vítor Gonçalves in the box. Paulo Vítor will be disappointed as the Chaves shot-stopper got a hand to Nermin Zolotić’s penalty but was unable to keep the ball out the net. Ten minutes into the second half, a Casa Pia counter-attack ended up with Vitó guiding the ball past keeper Vítor at his near post. Chaves grabbed one back with a great team goal that was finished off by Juninho, the rest of the game was all Chaves as Casa Pia battled to hold onto all three points. Chaves substitute Bachi forced Casa Pia keeper Ricardo Batista into a good save, a couple of minutes later the 22-year-old from Angola struck the post as Chaves edged closer to an equaliser. Casa managed to withstand and Filipe Martins men claimed an important victory. Full-Time Chaves 1-2 Casa Pia