Neighbors who got together for a late afternoon of good football in Pedreira. This Saturday, the SC Braga received and hit the Gil Vicenteon matchday 26 of the Portugal Betclic League, by 2-1. The Braga team returned to winning ways, after the draw in Vila do Conde, and extended their good form. The Gilistas, on the other hand, saw their best series of the season interrupted and returned, four games later, to experience the bitter taste of defeat.
In relation to the last duel, Artur Jorge returned Víctor Gómez and Rodrigo Zalazar to the starting eleven, to the detriment of Joe Mendes and Vítor Carvalho. Vítor Campelos repeated the eleven that drew, at home, against GD Chaves in the last round.
With daylight still in the background, SC Braga entered with their eyes fixed on Andrew Ventura’s goal. Once again in the 4x4x2 formation that has accompanied them in the best defensive series of the season, the arsenalists started to dominate, with fast and vertical football, combined with a strong reaction to the loss that prevented Gil Vicente from having the ball in the first quarter of an hour. Although there were some dangerous moments during this period, with particular emphasis on a shot from Banza, the visitors survived the initial struggle.
Little by little, the Barcelos team gained confidence in having the ball and found solutions to escape the opponent’s strong pressure and thus avoid repeating the mistakes in the construction phase. Maxime Domínguez, the most advanced midfielder in Gilista’s 4x2x3x1 formation, retreated a few meters and gave the team a signal to leave, receiving a few passes behind João Moutinho and Zalazar.
The visitors’ improvements led to a period of greater balance, where despite the overwhelming supremacy in possession, SC Braga had more difficulties reaching the final third. In the final stretch of the first half, the hosts grew again, found their way down the flanks and unlocked the marker: Matheus launched the transition with a good clearance from the posts, Borja crossed low and Abel Ruiz shot to count.
One more scare
After opening the scoring, a fair prize for the best team in the first half, the ghosts they returned to hover at Braga Municipal. As in many other duels this season, the Braga team shut down after gaining the advantage. Gil Vicente, more aggressive without the ball and courageous with it, appeared more capable of dividing the game in the second half.
The tone of the game changed and Alipour, in the first minutes, was unable to score an equalizer in front of Matheus. He did so, however, at the hour mark, from the penalty spot. Game relaunched and Artur Jorge’s reaction, with just over 15 minutes to go: Álvaro Djaló and Cher Ndour were released, with Roger Fernandes moving back to left wing-back. Clearly offensive message from the Braga coach to try to regain the advantage.
The objective was to shake things up, but the new faces added nothing. Vítor Campelos, on the other hand, refreshed the team and saw his players increasingly comfortable in defensive tasks, capable of anticipating everything the opponent tried to do. You cocks They could even have turned it around in one of the few transitions they managed to launch, but Alex Pinto shot too high.
Given the lack of response from the two players launched (Álvaro Djaló, above all, had a disastrous entry into the game), Artur Jorge had moved again and scrapped the idea of having Roger on the side, launching Joe Mendes. At a time when impatience was already taking over the environment and the team’s mistakes were piling up, it was the Swede who unlocked the block: after a great reception of a long pass, he did what he wanted from Alex Pinto and crossed in a millimetric way for Banza to make the 19th goal in the League, at the end of the day.
Before the end, there was still room for a clumsy exit from Matheus, who ran over Serdar along the way – the Turk left the pitch on a stretcher – and left the goal deserted, but Alipour shot over. SC Braga started to swing again, but didn’t fall. The Arsenalistas got rid of yet another scare and put pressure on FC Porto, now two points – conditionally – away.
