This Thursday, Tondela welcomed FC Porto for matchday 31 of Liga NOS. At the Joao Cardoso Stadium, the Dragons beat the home team by 3-1 and got closer to winning another title of the League. Danilo Pereira, Moussa Marega, and Fabio Vieira scored the winning goals. Ronan Jeronimo diminished for the hosts.
As they were the superior team, it was no surprise when Porto started the first half taking control of the match. The had the ball most of the time and forced goalkeeper Babacar Niasse to make a great save in Marega’s header.
Tondela didn’t have many chances to create plays, with their only opportunity coming after a long pass from their keeper. And even though the visitors were dominating the game, they also weren’t able to score, making both of them go to the locker room goalless.
The second half was pretty exciting. Already at the 47th minute, the Dragons have broken the deadlock with Danilo Pereira. After a corner, the number 22 jumped higher than the defense to put the ball into the back of the goal and open the scoring.
The visitors kept on putting pressure, searching for the second goal, and it came at the 64th minute. After a fast counter-attack, Marega got the ball, went forward, and hit on the far post to increase his team’s lead on the match.
After scoring the second goal, Porto decided to relax a little, giving Tondela the chance to play. And it was during that time that the hosts were able to find their only goal. At the 77th minute, Pite was brought down inside the box and they were awarded a penalty. Ronan Jeronimo stepped up and converted from the spot.
It seemed that the match would end with a 2-1 victory for the Dragons, but at the injury time, they were awarded a penalty and given the chance to score the third. Fabio Vieira was the one to step up and convert from the spot.
With the 3-1 victory, FC Porto reached 76 points, still in the first place, and are just one point from being declared Portuguese Champions once again. On the other hand, Tondela stopped at 30 points, in 15th place, and still fight against relegation.