Sp. Braga won (0-4), this Saturday, for the 24th round, in Vizela, by numbers that it only justified in the second half, but that leave no doubt as to the ability to feed the dream of reaching the vice-leadership, which will be at stake in the next round, against FC Porto.
Iuri Medeiros, with a brace (49 and 65′) and Ricardo Horta (75′) broke a long “fast” after Al Musrati (43′) had released the chains. But the beginning was not auspicious. With the exception of a free-kick (15′) in which Ricardo Horta tested Buntic’s concentration, the best moments of the first half belonged to Vizela, in particular a shot by Samu, flying over the crossbar, and a penetration by Kiko Bondoso, undone by André Horta .
At that time, Sp. Braga could not deal with the space in the corridor of Victor Gómez, whom Artur Jorge asked, in possession, to act as a wing, thus creating superiority with the interior diagonals of Iuri Medeiros and the wanderings of Ricardo Horta.
With André Horta promoting balance in the defensive midfield, Al Musrati was divided between high pressure and helping the right winger, giving Vizela the opportunity to explore that space through Kindoso and Samu.
The locals just lacked a better definition of the bids, while the people from Braga showed a certain discomfort. Thus, the key moment would end up being the interruption of the match, already very close to half-time, motivated by an abnormally long analysis by the video referee in the “arsenalistas” area.
Soares Dias started by signaling a penalty, immediately retreating in view of Osmajic’s irregular position, which nullified any possibility of Victor Gómez charging Kiki Afonso. But VAR uncovered something else and invited the referee to view the move, which caused perplexity, broke the rhythm of the game and the concentration of the people of Vizel.
Soares Dias kept the decision and soon after the restart came the goal of Al Musrati, with the “connivance” of Ivanildo. The Libyan finished off a confusing move with a mid-range shot, causing the ball to hit the center’s foot and betray the goalkeeper.
The spell was broken, with Sp. Braga achieving an important advantage that would be increased by Iuri Medeiros, in a good rotation with an accurate shot, at the start of the second half.
The Azorean hadn’t scored since January (15th round, also 0-4 at Santa Clara), so he took the opportunity to score twice. Ricardo Horta also scored for the last time in the Azores and did not want to miss the party.
With that, Sp. Braga closed the night, which began as a kind of puzzle, solved in time to receive the vice-leader with a greater margin.