There is no evil that always lasts, nor good that never ends. The saying applies to this opening match of the 15th round of the League because it is based on perfection.
As people say, it was a beautiful ball game! High pace, intensity at the limits in many individual duels, stopping and responding, clear scoring opportunities on one side and the other… it fell to Estoril.
The Canarinhos were going through a bad moment — three defeats (two for the championship and one for the Portuguese Cup) and a draw — and the only reason they didn’t enter the game losing was because Joel Robles stood up against Pau Victor (4′). The people from Braga wanted to add their fifth consecutive victory in the League (and increase their unbeaten run to eight games, across all competitions).
The home team reacted quickly and from the quarter of an hour onwards they balanced things out. And Yanis Begraoui (17′) and André Lacximicant (18′) could even have opened the scoring.
It was ball here, ball there, and João Moutinho, 10 minutes later, made use of his 170 centimeters to, with a header, force Robles into an excellent intervention. The next opportunity fell to the arsenalists again, with Gabri Martínez, inside the small area, failing in a blatant manner, following a cross with precision, weight and measure from Víctor Gómez.
The maximum punishment for Carlos Vicens’ men would come on the brink of half-time and was handed down by a former SC Braga player: André Lacximicant. Long pass from Pedro Amaral, the striker beat Gustaf Lagerbielke with speed, was not frightened by Vítor Carvalho and Bright Arrey-Mbi and, already in the area, shot across the ball and placed the ball near the left post of the goal in the custody of Lukas Hornicek — a goal that he did not celebrate.
Due to the size of the Braga team and the triumphal series they were going through, a worthy reaction was required, but what was left in will and attitude was lacking in effectiveness. The clearest situations for a draw were denied on the line by Jordan Holsgrove (48′) and Antef Tsoungui (88′) and whoever wastes it like that is subject to being punished.
But Estoril continued to live their lives and the only reason they didn’t reach the goal of (more than likely) rest was because Hornicek was… gigantic.
O ice man He didn’t remain best friends with Yanis Begraoui, who he prevented from celebrating on three occasions (57′, 82′ and 90+3′). The same luck (or lack thereof) had Fabrício Garcia, who saw the number 1 stop his shot after the hit and run A lagerbielke (86′).
A ball at Lacximicant(o) took the warriors off the right route. Estoril is breathing, SC Braga has Gil Vicente and Famalicão close at hand…
Man of the match: André Lacximicant (Estoril)
One goal, three points. Decisive. And when that’s the case, there’s nothing to say about a striker. It is true that at certain moments it seemed distant from the game, but this was also due to the offensive pressure from the arsenalists, who left the ball for some time closer to Joel Robles’ goal than on the other side. In the great opportunity he had, the left-hander didn’t waste it: he won.
A figure: Lukas Hornicek (SC Braga)
Even though the Braga fans had opportunities to leave Amoreira with a different result, the truth is that it ended up being the magnitude of the Czech goalkeeper’s interventions that meant the Canarinhos’ triumph was narrow. Yanis Begraoui (in particular) and Fabrício Garcia must not have missed the Minho team’s number 1 jersey.
Notes from Estoril players:
Joel Robles (7), Ricard Sánchez (6), Kévin Boma (6), Felix Bacher (6), Pedro Amaral (6), Jandro Orellana (5), Jordan Holsgrove (6), João Carvalho (6), Yanis Begraoui (5), Rafik Guitane (5), André Lacximicant (7), Ferro (5), Nodar Lominadze (5), Tiago Parente (5), Fabrício Garcia (6) and Antef Tsuungui (6).
Notes from SC Braga players:
Lukas Hornicek (7), Gustaf Lagerbielke (4), Vítor Carvalho (5), Bright Arrey-Mbi (5), Víctor Gómez (6), Gorby (5), João Moutinho (6), Gabri Martínez (5), Rodrigo Zalazar (5), Pau Victor (5), Diego Rodrigues (5), Mario Dorgeles (5), Ricardo Horta (5), Florian Grillitsch (5), Fran Navarro (5) and Leonardo (-) Lelo.
Game with two different parts. In the first it was more divided, but we explored the spaces we wanted and after not conceding we managed to score. In the second half I just want to congratulate the players for their concentration.
The truth is that it wasn’t our best game. The team lacked dynamism. It was an open match in the first half and we had the best chances, but Estoril took the advantage with a good move. Then we took a risk… We are not happy.
