Liga II roundup: União de Leiria humble Benfica B as Torreense make their move | OneFootball

The top teams feeling the pressure

It was a very unusual week in Portugal’s Liga II. The top teams were shocked and none of them won. Tondela drew against Vizela 1-1, but still managed to stay leaders at the end of round 13.

Penafiel, however, continued the rough patch they are going through with a 3-0 loss away from home against Feirense, which brings up the question: is Penafiel’s promotion drive running out of steam?

PortuGOAL rounds up the weekend action in the Segunda Liga.

Benfica B, even though they cannot be promoted, also took a huge hit this week with a thumping 5-0 loss against the historical União de Leiria. Daniel dos Anjos scored a hat-trick in 21 minutes to give the Leiria team the win.

Torreense on the march

Académico de Viseu lost against Torreense in the battle for the promotion spots. In a very well-played match between two contenders for promotion, the Western Portugal team got the best of the Vitiathus.

Torreense coach Tiago Fernandes, promoted after an excellent campaign with the club’s U23 team last season, has now guided the historical club from Torres Vedras to 4 wins and a draw in their last five matches. There are only six points separating the top 6 teams in Liga II and we are in for a hell of a fight for promotion.

Torreense 1-0 Académico de Viseu highlights

Oliveirense go from bad to worse

If the fight at the top is getting hot, at the basement things are already on fire. Oliveirense are an interesting team because it is not hard to criticize them, it is hard to find something good to say. They are by far the worst attack in the championship and also have the worst defence. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, maybe only a red light that will guide them straight into relegation if things don’t start going well right now. They suffered four more goals against Alverca and have only six points in 13 games.

FC Porto B and Mafra are also digging their own graves. The satellite team of FC Porto are facing their worst year ever. A team that was meant to be competitive and develop young talents on a professional level seems to abandon this idea week in week out. With poor tactics and a coach who doesn’t value youth, it is hard to implement the ideas that the administration has for this team. Changes have to be made.

On the other hand, Mafra lost again after starting the game by going 1-0 up in the first minute. The process of play is very good; however, they seem to crumble and fall whenever they create an advantage. Overconfidence, maybe.

Portimonense finally won a match and left the relegation spots. I don’t know if the coach is reading my articles but their defence showed real improvement and understood that in this competitive championship, solid defence is the key. Could Portimonense aim for higher spots after this win?

Player of the week: Daniel dos Anjos

The former Benfica striker led União de Leiria to a shock win against the high-flying Benfica B with a 21-minute hat-trick. His first half performance was of a level that is hard to find in secondary championships such as the II Liga. The Brazilian striker is very experienced in this league, but it seems that this may be the year where he can solidify himself as a top striker, having notched 5 goals in 11 games for União de Leiria, making himself the team’s top scorer.

With a powerful shot and amazing physicality, Daniel dos Anjos has all the ingredients to be on the top charts this season and, who knows, at the end of it, he may aim for higher flights, maybe in top tier Portuguese football. However, for this season, the question is: can Daniel dos Anjos be the spearhead that drives a promotion charge for União de Leiria?