PortuGOAL
·11 October 2022
PortuGOAL
·11 October 2022
Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo leads the stories this week in the Portuguese Abroad goals section, after his match-winning return to form saw the Seleção captain reach the 700-goal mark in club football.
United’s local rivals Manchester City remain an ominous figure in English football, meanwhile, as João Cancelo scored a superb individual strike to help the Premier League champions to another victory. Elsewhere, there was a goal for Miguel Crespo to help Jorge Jesus’ Fenerbahce to a high-scoring win in Turkey, while Pizzi scored his first goal in the UAE and Fábio Silva found the net for Belgians Anderlecht.
Ronaldo’s winner for United against Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday evening was his 700th at club level. The Portuguese had demonstrated improved sharpness despite failing to score in United’s midweek Europa League win over Omonia in Cyprus, and when Anthony Martial pulled up injured inside half an hour against Everton, Ronaldo was introduced by coach Erik ten Hag and responded with the winning goal.
Premier League champions Manchester City hammered Southampton 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, with João Cancelo a standout performer for Pep Guardiola’s side. Cancelo grabbed the opener with a brilliant solo run, before later providing the assist from which Erling Haaland rounded off the scoring.
Speaking after the game Cancelo, who was many outlets’ Man of the Match from left-back, mentioned his versatility. “I’m always happy when we score and even happier when we win,” he said. “Yeah, it’s true I can play in two positions, and I feel comfortable in both, right and left.
“I played more advanced today but as I say I’m comfortable in both right back and left back. I always try to help the team wherever the team need me, even if the manager asks me to be a goalkeeper I can also do it! I always try to do my best and try to help the team to achieve the targets.”
Jorge Jesus’ Fenerbahce were the victors in a remarkable game this weekend in the Turkish Super Lig against Fatih Karagumruk, led by Andrea Pirlo. Jesus’ side ran out 5-4 winners in Istanbul on Sunday, with Portuguese midfielder Miguel Crespo scoring the first goal of the game on an evening which saw the hosts go 2-1 down and twice pegged back to 3-3 and 4-4 by Karagumruk, before Michy Batshuayi’s 95th-minute winner.
“First and foremost, we won the match!” said Jorge Jesus after the nine-goal thriller. “It didn’t matter whether it was 1-0, 5-4, 10-9, the important thing was to win. Today, we achieved this goal. Once the target has achieved, we can now do our analysis.
“Defensively, we’re normally a solid team, in recent games we haven’t been conceding, but today we did not have a good day. But we won today’s game with our offensive quality and the changes we made. The important thing is that the team won. What we need to do now is to focus on our work. Today’s match was not an example of our defensive security.”
Crespo has been in impressive form for Fenerbahce of late and recent rumours suggest the club are attempting to tie the former Estoril man down to a new contract, in the face of interest from Atletico Madrid.
Fábio Silva scored his 8th goal of the season in all competitions as Anderlecht won 3-1 away against Mechelen in the Belgian First Division on Sunday. The Portugal under-21 international, who started the match, rounded off the scoring with a calm finish for Anderlecht’s third in the 71st minute.
Former Benfica midfielder Pizzi scored his first goal since moving to the United Arab Emirates. Pizzi got the fourth goal as Al Wahda beat Al Nasr 4-0 in Abu Dhabi, on an evening which saw fellow Portuguese, 20-year-old defender Rúben Canedo, also find the net for Al Wahda. Elsewhere, in the UAE Premier League, Aylton Boa Morte scored for Khorfakkan, who beat Al Bataeh 3-0.
There was a very familiar match-winner in the Polish Ekstraklasa on Saturday, with veteran 38-year-old striker Flávio Paixão scoring a late penalty to give Lechia Gdansk a 1-0 victory at Cracovia. There was a first career goal for ex Sporting and Moreirense and Portugal U21 international Abdu Conté in France, with the defender catching the eye with a well-taken strike in their 3-2 defeat to Nice.
Another former Sporting prospect, Miguel Cardoso, struck for Turkish side Kayserispor in a 2-2 draw at Umraniyespor. In the English National League, Rúben Rodrigues scored a penalty to help keep Notts County top of the table with a 3-2 win at Woking, while Hélder Lopes also converted from the spot in Israel as Hapoel Be’er Sheva were held 2-2 by Hapoel Haifa.
Pedro Eugénio is the top goalscorer in the Kazakhstani league, after he got in on the act during Astana’s 6-0 win over Ordabasy. Former Porto and Portugal U21 defender Tiago Ferreira scored for Albanians Kukesi as they won 2-0 against Byilis in the Superliga.
Finally, in Latvia Douglas Aurélio scored for Riga in a 3-1 win at Spartak Jurmala, while in the Andorran 1a Divisió, midfielder João Teixeira struck in Ordino’s 5-3 win over Engordany and both Gonçalo Paulino and Tiago Portuga scored for UE Santa Coloma during a 3-0 victory away at Sant Julia.