Portugal round-up: Porto stagger to victory

FC Porto consolidated their position as Super Liga leaders with a 2-1 win against FC Paços de Ferreira in the last game of the weekend.

Match in hand
José Mourinho's side, who will face Turkish side Denizlispor in the fourth round of the UEFA Cup, remain four points ahead of SL Benfica with a match in hand. Benfica defeated CF Os Belenenses in the season's second Lisbon derby, while title and cup holders Sporting Clube de Portugal lost again, this time at UD Leiria's temporary Marinha Grande stadium.
 
Late winner
At the Das Antas stadium, Porto struggled to beat Paços de Ferreira, and only a fortunate Edgaras Jankauskas goal, with a deflection from a Maniche cross in the last attack of the match, took the three points.

Cruel deflection
Hélder Postiga put Porto ahead after collecting a slide-rule pass from Nuno Valente and skipping past the on-rushing goalkeeper Pedro. Brazilian midfield player Beto levelled the score in the second half as his direct free kick was deflected past Vítor Baía by Porto striker Derlei.

Joy for Camacho
Benfica's new Spanish coach José Antonio Camacho maintained his 100 per cent record at the club at the Da Luz stadium with a 1-0 win against Belenenses, with the only goal of the match being scored, in the 54th minute, from the spot by Simão Sabrosa after Marco Paulo pushed Miklós Fehér. After the penalty, Belenenses forward Ludemar continued to protest to the referee and was also sent off.

Sporting defeat
After the misery of defeat against Benfica last week, Sporting's worries increased with a 3-2 defeat at Leiria. Midfield player Edson put Leiria ahead on the 22nd minute with a free kick which deflected off Sporting’s Rodrigo Tello before rolling past goalkeeper Nélson.

On the rebound
Sporting levelled seven minutes later, through João Pinto, but Cameroonian winger Rudolph Douala put Leiria ahead again, tidying up a rebound from a header which Nélson had saved from Brazilian striker Márcio Santos. Midfield player Fernando Aguiar made it 3-1 from a corner kick before Pablo Contreras pulled one back with a close-range shot.

Setúbal humbled
Vitória Setúbal are still without a win at home in the league this season after a 4-2 defeat against Varzim SC. Vitória took a two-goal lead into the half-time interval after Rui Miguel and Jorginho scored, but a hat-trick from substitute striker Paulo Vida and a fourth from Pepa won the day for the visitors.

Boavista fight back
In Aveiro, SC Beira-Mar and Boavista FC shared the spoils in a 3-3 draw, with Jaime Pacheco's side equalising three times, while in Coimbra, new coach Artur Jorge watched Clube Académica de Coimbra take only their second win of the season in their final game before he takes over - a 3-2 success against CD Santa Clara.

Madeiran victory
Elsewhere, Vitória Guimarães and Moreirense FC drew 1-1 and CD Nacional held SC Braga to a goalless draw, while CS Marítimo defeated Gil Vicente FC 3-1 with Márcio Abreu, Gaúcho and Joel Santos scored for the Madeiran side, while Nuno Amaro scored for Gil Vicente.