Portugal round-up: Porto push on

FC Porto moved 13 points ahead of SL Benfica in the Portuguese title race by beating their rivals 1-0 tonight in the last game between the two sides at the old Estádio da Luz stadium.

Capacity crowd
Rescheduled from its weekend slot to Shrove Tuesday and celebrated with Brazilian-style carnival parades in Portugal, the match was played out in front of a capacity crowd of 54,500.

Slow start
After a slow start, Porto gradually gained possession and playmaker Deco forced Benfica goalkeeper José Moreira to tip the ball over with a free-kick in the 22nd minute. Benfica came closest to scoring in the first half when Portuguese international Nuno Gomes hit the right post from 20 metres after launching a rare counterattack down the left wing.

Deco decider
Deco scored the decider in the 36th minute when he picked up a long forward pass from midfield player Maniche on the edge of the box and beat two markers to tuck the ball inside the left post. Benfica were reduced to ten men for the last 20 minutes after a late challenge by defender Ricardo Rocha on Porto's fast-moving Brazilian forward Derlei.

Jankauskas chance
The home side stayed in the game despite being a player short and Nuno Gomes again threatened, but his 20-metre drive was easily stopped by Portugal goalkeeper Vítor Baía. Lithuanian 'supersub' Edgaras Jankauskas missed a chance to add to Porto's lead shortly before the final whistle when he mis-kicked a cross from Russian Dmitri Alenichev and sent the ball spinning past the left post.

'We were the better side'
"We were the better side, and I think we showed that we deserved to win," Porto coach José Mourinho said. "In my opinion, the margin should have been wider, but we have three more points and one less game to play."

Camacho accepts defeat
Meanwhile, Benfica coach José Antonio Camacho accepted his first defeat since taking charge of the club in December in what was the last match between the two clubs at the Estádio da Luz before it is replaced by a new stadium which will host games at the UEFA EURO 2004™ finals. "They got into the game more and we lost a lot of possession," the Spanish coach said, admitting Benfica's chances of overtaking Porto were "almost lost". He added: "We now have to secure second place and open the gap [ahead of third-placed Sporting Clube de Portugal]."

Sporting lurk
Reigning champions Sporting, held 1-1 at CF Os Belenenses on Saturday, are just two points behind Benfica in the race for second spot and a place in the UEFA Champions League qualifying round.