Portugal round-up: Wins for Lisbon giants
Saturday, March 23, 2002
Article summary
Sporting Clube de Portugal won, but it was SL Benfica who provided the main drama in the 1. Liga.
Article body
Sporting's double whammy
Two-nil was the margin of victory for Laszlo Bölöni's men, with João Pinto and Facundo Quiroga scoring either side of half time.
Violence mars Benfica win
But the real drama came in the game between Sporting's city rivals, SL Benfica, and Vitória Guimarães. Benfica prevailed 4-1 at the D. Afonso Henriques stadium, where home forward Romeu Soares was sent off in the first half for headbutting Simão Sabrosa. This infuriated Guimarães coach Augusto Inacio whose protests earned him a red card as well.
Guimarães fight back
Even so, Guimarães's ten men recovered from Luis Brito Miguel's opener to equalise through Carlos Fangueiro on 49 minutes. And it needed late strikes from Sabrosa, Zlatko Zahovic and Miguel to clinch the win that consolidated Benfica's third place, nine points behind Sporting.
Relief for Gil Vicente
Elsewhere, Gil Vicente FC moved three points clear of the relegation zone after a 2-1 home success against SC Beira Mar. The Aveiro club trailed to Filipe's 26th-minute effort but levelled through Agostinho Carlos before Paolo Alves grabbed an 89th-minute winner.
