Farense have climbed out of the Liga NOS relegation zone following a 3-2 win against Nacional on Saturday afternoon in Madeira.
The five-goal nail-biter was Farense’s first away win for the league and also the first win for new manager Jorge Costa, who replaced Sérgio Vieira at the start of February.
After a goalless first-half, Farense centre-back André Pinto powered home an impressive header to give the Algarve-side the lead at the 51th minute.
Scottish playmaker Ryan Gauld, rumoured to be wanted by his former club Sporting CP due to his impressive performances so far this season, netted his sixth goal of the season just 11 minutes later, giving Farense what seemed to be a comfortable lead.
However, Costa’s men were unable to stop a strong reaction from the home team which was energised after João Vigário scored an extraordinary goal from outside the box to reduce Farense’s lead.
Madi Queta could have scored the dagger minutes later for Farense but was unable to finish, allowing Nacional’s Pedro Mendes to score an equalising goal at the 83rd minute.
However, Mendes became the villain for Nacional just two minutes later when he inadvertently pushed the ball into his team’s own goal following a free kick, handing Farense their badly-needed first away win.
Brazilian defender Eduardo Mancha stressed the importance of the win after the match.
“It was a very important win for allowing us to leave the relegation zone and for being the first away win. I think we already deserved it for everything we have done,” said the 25-year-old, who has struggled with injuries this season.
Farense now sit 15th, with the same 16 points (but one fewer game) as Gil Vicente who are 16th. Their next match was due to be played against Vitória SC in Guimarães on Wednesday at 9.45pm, after the Resident went to press.
