Porto climb to pinnacle

By Onofre Costa

FC Porto climbed to the top of the SuperLiga for the first time this season with a 2-0 win against Gil Vicente FC after SL Benfica were held by CS Marítimo.

Injury setbacks
Porto did not get off to the best of starts against Gil Vicente, with Vítor Baía injured during the warm up and Diego carried off the pitch with a sprained knee on 12 minutes after colliding with Julio César. But the European champions continued their recent renaissance and took the lead through Ricardo Quaresma just after the half hour before Costinha sealed the win three minutes from time.

Simão strike
There was early drama in Madeira, where Pena - on-loan from Porto - gave Marítimo the lead on nine minutes before Simão Sabrosa equalised seven minutes later with a superb curling free-kick. In an evenly balanced game, both teams had opportunities to grab a second but the match petered out into a draw, which leaves Benfica second, a point adrift of Porto, while the home side lie fourth.

Record victory
Vitória FC remain third as they bounced back from last week's 4-0 defeat by Benfica with a 1-0 victory against CD Nacional thanks to Igor's 76th-minute strike. Sporting Clube de Portugal are lurking ominously though, as they moved to fifth after a comprehensive 6-1 win against Boavista FC at the Estádio José Alvalade - the biggest victory in the Portuguese top flight this term - with goals from Douala, Custódio, Liedson and Mauricio Pinilla, and a Hugo Viana double.

Belenenses win
The game between UD Leiria and SC Braga finished goalless, while CF Os Belenenses continued their recent form with a 3-0 victory against Moreirenses FC. Neca broke the deadlock on 18 minutes and with the visitors reduced to ten men following Ricardo Fernandes' dismissal, Amaral and Rudolfo Lima completed the scoring.

Gaucho goal
A. Académica de Coimbra also finished their game against GD Estoril-Praia with ten men following Nuno Luís' 83rd-minute red card but held on to win courtesy of Rafael Gaucho's goal eight minutes after the interval. Strugglers FC Penafiel gained a rare 2-1 victory at home against SC Beira-Mar to move to 14th, one place above Vitória SC who drew 1-1 with mid-table Rio Ave FC in Vila do Conde on Monday night.