On another game for matchday 25 of Liga NOS, Santa Clara welcomed Braga this Friday. The Azorean surprised and were able to get a 3-2 victory at the injury time. Two goals of Thiago Santana and one of Carlos guaranteed the three points. Fransergio and Trincao scored for the visitors.
The first half started badly to the hosts. At the 17th minute, they saw Braga having the perfect opportunity to break the deadlock when they were awarded a penalty. Fransergio stepped up and converted from the spot.
Being behind on the scoring, Santa Clara started to take the actions of the game and decided to go for an equalizer. They did it at the 34th minute. After a play on the left, Thiago Santana received in the box and sent a left-footed shot to the goal. The ball still hit the post before dying in the back of the net.
After the goal, the hosts started to take over the game and decided to go full attack. And they probably would have scored the second goal if it wasn’t for goalkeeper Matheus avoiding all the chances they got. With that, they went with a 1-1 draw to the break.
The second half started just like the first, with the visiting side better and scoring in the early minutes. At the 56th minute, Trincao took a good shot and put the ball into the corner.
10 minutes later, the home side was awarded a penalty after Raul Silva brought Artur Soares down. Thiago Santa stepped up and scored his second goal.
The penalty brought two problems to Braga. The first was the equalizer, and the second was having one player less, once Raul Silva saw the second yellow card. With that, Santa Clara found more spaces.
As the end of the match arrived, the rhythm of both sides dropped significantly and the draw was the most probable result. However, at 90+2, Carlos put the ball into the back of the net and guaranteed the three points for the hosts.
The victory was very important for Santa Clara, bringing confidence for the squad. They are now in 9th place, with 33 points. Braga, on the other hand, remains in 3rd place with the same 46 points.