Porto showdown ends in stalemate

By Diogo Teixeira

FC Porto and SL Benfica played out an entertaining 1-1 draw at the Estádio do Dragão on Monday night to allow Sporting Clube de Portugal to pull level at the top of the SuperLiga with a 4-0 victory against struggling GD Estoril-Praia.

Early exchanges
Benfica started the match in attacking mood, but after the first 15 minutes the home side began to impose themselves, with Maniche and Diego looking to tee up forward pair Benni McCarthy and Hélder Postiga. The best chance of the opening half saw Postiga touch Maniche's shot just past the post.

Porto lead
After the break Porto remained in the ascendant, although Benfica were looking to create chances of their own, and January signing Nuno Assis struck the woodwork with an effort from the edge of the area in the 64th minute. Just two minutes later, though, Porto were ahead as Costinha found Nuno Valente, who crossed from the byline for McCarthy to turn in.

Geovanni equaliser
However, Benfica were not about to let their rivals open up a three-point gap and with 12 minutes left, Geovanni appeared unmarked in the box to head in Petit's corner. Either side could have won the game late on, McCarthy in particular rattling the crossbar on 86 minutes with a free-kick from nearly 30 metres out.

Sporting chance
As it was, the draw allowed Sporting to catch the leading pair on 42 points. Marius Niculae took just eight minutes of his comeback from injury to put Sporting in front as he converted Hugo Viana's free-kick from the left, and in the 76th minute Fabio Rochemback's powerful drive doubled the advantage. Two late Liedson goals, the second a penalty that took his season's league tally to 20, sealed the win - lifting the home team two points above SC Braga and Boavista FC.