FC Porto dealt Benfica the second blow in a week on Thursday. After last week’s cup win, the archrival was now also settled in the competition: 3-1. This means that the leaders Porto and Sporting Portugal are no less than seven points away from Benfica just before the turn of the year. Given the small number of points that the Portuguese top clubs usually lose o Glorioso forget about the championship.
Nélson Veríssimo was transferred from Benfica B to temporarily take over the duties of the fired Jorge Jesus. The interim coach had to miss the suspended Nicolás Otamendi and therefore decided to start with two instead of three center defenders. FC Porto also faced personnel problems: star player Luis Díaz had to drop out with a corona infection and was replaced by 24-year-old Pepe, not to be confused with his 38-year-old namesake, who was not fit.
Fabio Vieira opens the scoring in O Clássico! ??
The ref & VAR give the green light: 1-0 FC Porto! ??#ZiggoSport #LigaPortugal #FCPSLB pic.twitter.com/J50r0jOKh8
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Dec 30, 2021
Porto had already beaten Benfica (3-0) seven days into the cup match and started with visibly more confidence. Pepe, the attacker, saw a goal disallowed early in the game for offside. After more than half an hour of play, the home team took the lead, when Fábio Vieira shot the ball through the legs of Odysseas Vlachodimos from a difficult angle: 1-0. Three minutes later, Pepe freely headed in a ragfjine cross from Otavio, which set the halftime score at 2-0.
And there is immediately the 2-0! ??
That is two wonderful minutes for FC Porto ??#ZiggoSport #LigaPortugal #FCPSLB pic.twitter.com/fGF7fS0VTz— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Dec 30, 2021
Benfica brought the tension back immediately after the break, when Rafa Silva offered Roman Yaremchuk an unmissable score with a handy pass: 2-1. The joy was short-lived, as a totally unnecessary tackle earned Benfica defender André Almeida his second yellow card in the 49th minute. In the end, the visitors came close to the equalizer, but Zaidu Sanusi was able to just clear a bet from Gonçalo Ramos. The decision fell twenty minutes before the end via Mehdi Taremi, who broke through after a cross from Vitinha and passed the ball under Vlachodimos: 3-1.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FC Porto | 16 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 44 |
| 2 | Sporting Portugal | 16 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 44 |
| 3 | Benfica | 16 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 32 | 37 |
| 4 | Sporting Braga | 16 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 31 |
| 5 | Estoril | 16 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 25 |
| 6 | wallet | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 24 |
| 7 | Gil Vicente | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 23 |
| 8 | Vitoria Guimaraes | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 23 |
| 9 | Maritimo | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | -6 | 17 |
| 10 | Pacos Ferreira | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | -7 | 17 |
| 11 | Boavista | 16 | 3 | 7 | 6 | -8 | 16 |
| 12 | arouca | 16 | 3 | 5 | 8 | -15 | 14 |
| 13 | Vizela | 15 | 2 | 7 | 6 | -13 | 13 |
| 14 | Santa Clara | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 | -18 | 13 |
| 15 | moreirense | 15 | 2 | 6 | 7 | -9 | 12 |
| 16 | Tondela | 15 | 4 | 0 | 11 | -13 | 12 |
| 17 | Famalicão | 15 | 2 | 5 | 8 | -11 | 11 |
| 18 | Belenenses | 14 | 1 | 5 | 8 | -17 | 8 |