Liga Bwin: Vitória de Guimarães 0-1 Portimonense
Portimonense managed to grab three ‘big points’ from their first match of the new season last Sunday afternoon very much against the run of play.
Manager Paulo Sérgio’s 11, featuring 10 regular starters remaining from the last campaign plus ‘promoted’ U-23 central defender Filipe Relvas in place of the departed Jadson, Dener or Anzai, came under immediate pressure from the home side, ex-Tottenham Hotspur forward Marcus Edwards and Quaresma going close before outstanding keeper Samuel excelled in keeping out the last-mentioned player after only 10 minutes of play.
Guimarães continued to dominate with Borevkovic hitting the bar on the half-hour mark, Portimonense’s injured Fabrício giving way to Anderson early, and Samuel producing another good save from the by now rampant Quaresma.
The second half did not bring about a change of rhythm, Alfa Semedo now testing Samuel with a rasping drive before Edwards shot over from a good position.
The almost 9,000 partisan home fans finally fell silent, however, as a rare Aylton Boa Morte 86th-minute cross found Beto in the area, last season’s top scorer being quickest to react and beat Trmal in the Guimarães goal.
As an agonizing 11 (!) minutes of time added on ticked away, Beto almost doubled the score, only to see his strike ruled out for offside, but it was left to the usually prolific Edwards to sum up Guimarães’ afternoon, the Englishman pulling his 96th-minute effort wide with the goal at his mercy.
The Algarveans’ first success at the Dom Afonso Henriques Stadium since 1988 will hopefully provide the team with the necessary confidence to at least match this weekend’s visitors to the Municipal Stadium, Gil Vicente, easy 3-0 winners over Portimonense League Cup conquerors Boavista in their opening match.
By SKIP BANDELE
