The fast is over. Arouca had six consecutive defeats — the last victory was on October 18th and was in the Portuguese Cup, against Portimonense (2-1), so it was necessary to go back to September 20th to find the wolves’ final victory for the League, in this case, against Nacional (2-1) —, but the reception to Alverca ended the nightmare.
Vasco Seabra’s men entered in an affirmative manner, as if they wanted to demonstrate, from an early stage, that the negative period did not enter into the equation for this match, and Espen Van Ee gave the first warning (9′). The Ribatejo residents responded, but Naves’ shot, from mid-range, went in the direction… of the clouds.
The home team’s desire was great and after the quarter of an hour only a giant André Gomes denied Alfonso Trezza’s attempts: an excellent breaking pass from Dylan Nandín isolated his compatriot, but, with everything he needed to open the scoring, the Wolves’ number 19 allowed a (huge) save from the Portuguese under-21 international who is at Alverca on loan from Benfica.
A few minutes later, at 18′. moment that could have been absolutely key to the outcome of this challenge: Sandro Lima had a harsh tackle on Omar Fayed, he saw, in the first instance, a yellow card, but, after being alerted by the VAR, David Rafael Silva went to see the images and decided to reverse the decision, ordering the expulsion of the Brazilian striker of the visitors.
Life became even more complicated for the team coached by Custódio Castro, who, even so, managed to hold the score until half-time, as a result of a high level of defensive competence.
It was even the team that traveled from Ribatejo that came out better in the second half, with Alex Amorim (48′) and Naves (51′) putting the opposing defense on target, but Arouca definitely went forward and, after threats from Djouahra (53′) and Dylan Nandín (58′), they actually scored the goal: a cross that was square and wide from Tiago Esgaio and the newly introduced Lee dove in for the header. accurate.
The goal made Arouquenses even better, as they calmly controlled the advantage, but Alverca’s team never threw in the towel and, even in the face of adversity, kept looking at the opposite goal. And Marezi only didn’t score because Omar Fayed made a great cut (69′).
The wolves come out of red line — understand, from the relegation places — and Lee (cattle) are well on their way to the championship. There is oxygen in the mountains!
Man of the match: Lee (Arouca)
Whoever comes on in the 55th minute and 59th minute is already scoring… even more so, the goal that gave his team the victory can only deserve the distinction of man of the match. But the Korean creative didn’t stop at the goal, as he added quality to the Arouquenses’ offensive process, helping to unblock lines of pressure that the Ribatejos had, until then, very well set up. Decisive.
The figure: André Gomes (Alverca)
It’s not that he had a night’s work beyond that (he’s had tougher games in this edition of the championship), but he essentially had the ability to maintain complete serenity in his actions even after the team was outnumbered. With nothing to do about the goal conceded, he had already turned on the spotlight of this match when he denied Alfonso Trezza’s attempts (15′).
Nico Hold (5), Omar Fayed (6), Boris Popovic (5). Pablo of Gozalbez (-) and David Simão (-).
André Gomes (6), Kaiky Naves (6), Julián Martínez (6), Meupiyou (5), Nabili Touaizi (5), Sabit (5), Alex Amorim (6), Francisco Chissumba (6), Lincoln (5), Sandro Lima (3), Figueiredo (4), Marezi (5), Davy Gui (5), Cedric Nuozzi (5), Isaac James (-) and Felipe Lima (-).
It was a huge job from our players. Today we achieved two objectives of course, the first ‘clean sheet’ of the season and the return to winning ways. It’s true that Alverca was sent off early, but up until then we were already being better. The team had a great spirit and made things happen.
Expulsion ends up conditioning, there is no way to hide that. We started to be more focused on the defensive side, but we tried to change our disposition in an attempt to score a goal. But the working group stuck to the game and this demonstrates the ambition that these players have at all times.
News updated at 11:15 pm
