Portugal round-up: Benfica miss their cue
Saturday, April 6, 2002
Article summary
SL Benfica's slender title hopes were all but extinguished as they drew 0-0 at CD Santa Clara.
Article body
SL Benfica's slender 1. Liga title hopes were all but extinguished as they drew 0-0 at mid-table CD Santa Clara today.
Goalless draw
A win would have left the Lisbon club eight points adrift of leaders Boavista FC but they could not break down the home side at the São Miguel stadium and will now have to settle for battling for a place in next season's UEFA Cup.
Game in hand
Benfica dropped to fourth position, eight points behind second-placed Sporting Clube de Portugal and a further two adrift of Boavista. However, Sporting have a game in hand on both Benfica and Boavista and will move to the summit if they win it.
Porto on the rise
Meanwhile, Clayton scored twice as FC Porto beat nine-man SC Farense in Faro to go third above Benfica and keep up their challenge. After 13 minutes he was fastest to react to Deco's pull-back from the byline, and six minutes after half-time he doubled the advantage, heading in the loose ball after Joco Ferreira had beaten out Fredrik Söderström's shot. Dmitri Alenitchev's individual effort sealed the points for Porto in the 64th minute.
