For exactly three months, Porto does not know what it means to lose a point, no matter what the competition is. On Monday night, the team lead by Sérgio Conceição won by 3-1 the Nacional da Madeira without big difficulties, at the “Estádio do Dragão”, and confirmed the 18th consecutive win of the season. The result: Porto opened six points of lead in the Portuguese Championship.
The last time Porto left a point escape was on October the 7th, last year, when they lost 1-0 to Benfica at “Estádio da Luz” also for the Portuguese Championship. In the Champions League, for example, the team won five games, drew one and finished the first phase with the best campaign among the 32 clubs.
This Monday the team opened the scorer on the 32nd minute when Maxi Pereira made a good move inside the box and opened on the left for Brahimi to finish in the exit of the Brazilian goalkeeper Daniel, who still touched the ball but it was not enough. At the 38th minute, the leader of the championship expanded: Jesús Corona made a carnival at the right side of the attack and crossed perfectly for Tiquinho Soares to put the ball in the networks with a header.
Before the half-time, the Argentine forward Rochez, taking advantage of a bad moment of the rival’s defense, made 2-1 and gave some hope for Nacional. However, at the 57th minute, Brahimi appeared again. He received the ball from Corona on the counterattack and shot with the right foot to seal the victory at home.
With the result, Porto reached 42 points and opened six points to the second place, Braga – Sporting lost to Tondela in this round and dropped to fourth place. The National da Madeira, on the other hand, has 19 points and occupies the 10th place in the league table.
The two teams return to the pitch for the Portuguese Championship next Saturday, for the 17th round. The Nacional da Madeira receives the Belenenses, at home, while Porto faces Sporting in José Alvalade Stadium.