Cup agony for Benfica and Boavista

Portuguese giants SL Benfica and Boavista FC have been knocked out of the Portuguese Cup by third division Gondomar and CD Santa Clara, respectively.

Boavista catastrophy
The troubles of Boavista, astonishingly slumped in 14th place in the Superliga after eleven games, went from bad to catastrophic when they were drubbed 4-0 by the lowly Azores side, who lie in last place in the Portuguese first division.

Board backing
The result prompted coach Jaime Pacheco to offer his resignation but he was told to stay put by the board. The gesture nonetheless serves to underline the seriousness of the predicament for the Porto club, who won the championship the season before last.

Another axe hovers
Benfica coach Jesualdo Ferreira is also on the brink after a 1-0 defeat to Gondomar at the Stadium of Light capped a poor run of results and exacerbated his already tenuous position. Cílio curled the all-important free-kick on eleven minutes.

No surprises
Holders Sporting Clube de Portugal and FC Porto at least conformed to expectations by defeating second and third division opponents Estarreja and Trofense. The Lions triumphed 3-1 while the Dragons ran out 2-0 winners.

Safe progression
Elsewhere, first division sides Vitória Guimarães, Vitória Setúbal, Sporting Braga, FC Paços de Ferreira, CD Nacional, CS Marítimo, CF Os Belenenses, Varzim SC, Clube Académica de Coimbra and Gil Vicente FC progressed without undue complication.