When they entered the field against Rio Ave, this Sunday, Sporting de Braga had Sporting just two points behind and already saw FC Porto at five points. When they returned home, the Minho team had already “shaken” the “lions”, who were back to three, and laid hands on the blue and white players, who were back to just two in the League.
This is the outcome of Europe’s accounts in the championship, after the triumph (2-0) of Sp. Braga against Rio Ave, in the quarry, which allows the Minho team to return to smiles, after defeats against Fiorentina and Vitória SC.
What does this mean for the formation of Vila do Conde? Nothing too significant. The team is already far from the European fight, but also has the duel of permanence well under way, with 11 points of advantage for the dangerous zone. In theory, the points lost in this game will not be missed.
Rio Ave took to this game a 3x5x2 in which the wingers were not always able to participate in the offensive moment, leaving Boateng and André Pereira to fend for themselves.
On the other hand, Sp. Braga had Ricardo Horta playing freely behind Abel Ruiz, and ended up managing, even if not always consistently, to find some solutions between the lines, above all as a way of compromising opponents, creating space for teammates.
And the Minho ended up taking advantage of the best phase of the game, in the first half, and not being surprised in the worst, during the second.
Artur Jorge’s team entered the game strong, with a territorial dominance combined with a lot of variability in offensive solutions. He managed to create danger in several ways and, even without adding minute-by-minute opportunities, he was clearly better in the game, against a team that tried to exploit the quick transitions.
It is true that Matheus saved Sp. Braga right at the start of the game, but the 1-0 advantage at half-time was logical, sponsored by a goal by Bruma in a beautiful collective move – frontal support by Ruiz, running by Iuri and finishing by Bruma.
The Portuguese international winger has had difficulty finding space in this team (he has almost always been a substitute) and the goal scored, even without having a superlative performance, can give a base of confidence to a player who does not arrive in Portugal at the most career flash.
In the second half, Rio Ave started to create danger again – there were two bids with clear opportunities –, but the team ended up losing some gas.
And it was in this more “lukewarm” phase that Banza, with a great “bike” goal, managed to “kill” the game. Not that a 2-0 is clearly “killing” a game, but, from what was going on, it was more or less evident that the triumph would hardly escape.
Rio Ave leaves with the feeling that they did enough to take points, and they did, but they will also know that they weren’t the ones who did the most to win. To that extent, the result is not maladjusted.