Liga II roundup: Penafiel’s promotion charge, misery for Marítimo and Antunes’ tears
Portugal’s second tier is almost at the halfway stage, and the latest round of matches brought us changes in the table, denting the Primeira Liga aspirations of some teams and boosting others.
Defeat for previous leaders Tondela coupled with Penafiel’s good form sees the latter consolidate their position at the summit, while one of the pre-season favourites for promotion, Marítimo, continue their miserable campaign with another loss at Vizela on the back of their shock defeat at rock-bottom Oliveirense.
In a remarkable game in Paços de Ferreira, experienced campaigner Antunes was reduced to tears in the wake of insults from his own fans, but ended the game a hero in a brilliant comeback win against Académico de Viseu.
Top of the table – Penafiel riding their luck?
Tondela fell off their perch with a bang. A 1-4 loss at home for the Beirões against União de Leiria, who are on the rise and playing better every week in. I called it almost a month ago when they thrashed Benfica B, and for this win against Tondela Leiria didn’t even have star man Daniel dos Anjos. One thing is for sure, União de Leiria are in for a fight back to the Primeira Liga.
With this blowout for Tondela, Penafiel took advantage pull away at the top of the table with a 4-point lead (having played a game more) and some strange performances have put the Northern team at the summit. The performances are strange because in 17 games played by Penafiel, in maybe only 3 games were they were effectively better than the opposition. I don’t know if it’s pure luck, if the “star of Amorim” has migrated to Penafiel, but winning against Chaves (a clear promotion contender) with such a weak display… maybe the stars are aligned for Penafiel to go up.
We have to talk about Marítimo
Marítimo, the giant of the Madeira Island, is probably the biggest disappointment this season. Everyone is entitled to make errors and sometimes it takes time to solve them. But with 17 games played, 19 points and in 12th place, Marítimo are no longer a promotion contender.
On the contrary, the traditionally strongest team from the Portuguese islands is now caught in the middle of the fight to flee relegation! Portimonense in 15th place has 17 points and 16 games played which means that if the results go sour for Marítimo they could end round 17 just one place above the relegation zone. Scary times in Madeira, with 3 losses in the last 3 games and only 1 win in their last 8.
Bottom of the table
After a surprising win against Marítimo, Oliveirense went back to their (not that) old ways of losing. The highlight of the game however was the rain that fell in Felgueiras that forced the staff that takes care of the turf to use milk fat to paint the lines. Whether it was the dairy-based products or not, Felgueiras were inspired to score three goals without reply against the desperate Oliveirense.
FC Porto B also continues to surprise everyone in a bad way. João Brandão has probably the best FC Porto B team since 2016 when they were champions of the Segunda Liga. And if the championship was to end right now, the B team of the Dragões would be relegated to Liga 3. Much like Vítor Bruno with the A team, João Brandão should be gone. Villas-Boas is giving off Varandas’ vibes being this stubborn.
Player of the week: Antunes (Paços de Ferreira)
The craziest game happened in Paços de Ferreira this week. Antunes (pictured above) stole the show for unusual reasons. He didn’t score, he didn’t assist this game. But he was insulted at halftime, which reduced this grown man with a long career behind him that has taken in clubs of the calibre of Roma, Malaga, Getafe and Sporting, to tears. The aggressive full-back, who played 13 times for Portugal, cried uncontrollably in the middle of the field, after underperforming and becoming the subject of insults from his own supporters.
Paços 4-3 Académico highlights
Antunes has been a decent full-back during his whole career, playing in La Liga, Serie A and being champion for Sporting. He surprisingly took a pay cut so that he could join his hometown club that showed him to the world, Paços de Ferreira. As the halftime whistle blew, being insulted by his own people must’ve hurt him so bad. But he cried, wiped his tears away and put in a performance of a lifetime in the second half helping his team make a fantastic comeback, winning 4-3 against promotion contenders Académico de Viseu.