Vitória beat Zrinjski Mostar 4-0 in Bosnia to break Portugal’s UEFA Conference League curse
At the fourth time of asking a Portuguese club has finally made it through the UEFA Conference League qualifying stages and will take part in the competition proper.
Vitória became the first Liga Portugal club to qualify for UEFA’s third-tier competition and did so in style, beating Zrinjski Mostar 4-0 in Bosnia-Herzegovina to complete a 7-0 aggregate victory.
Rui Borges’ men have also achieved the notable feat of winning all six of their qualifying/playoff matches in this season’s competition.
Vitória had shown their superiority in the first leg of the playoff last week, winning 3-0 in Guimarães.
Any notions the Bosnian team may have had of pulling off an unlikely comeback were destroyed in a first half dominated by the Portuguese team.
Midfielder Nuno Santos started in the absence of injured captain Tiago Silva, and the talented 25-year-old was the star of the first forty-five minutes, winning a penalty that was converted by Manu Silva then scoring himself after being neatly assisted by Ricardo Mangas.
Nélson Oliveira made it 3-0 on the stroke of half time, scoring from the tightest of angles.
We are still in August and Vitória were playing their ninth match of the season, so it is understandable that the northerners slowed down in the second half.
Nevertheless, there was time for new signing Gustavo Silva to get in on the act. The Brazilian forward entered the fray on the hour mark and ten minutes later found the back of the net with a sensational strike into the top corner from 25 yards out to complete another satisfying European night for Vitória.
Do meio da rua! ????
— sport tv (@sporttvportugal) August 29, 2024
Gustavo fez o 4.º do Vitória!#sporttvportugal #EUROPAnaSPORTTV #ConferenceLeague #ZrinjskiMostar #VitoriaSC pic.twitter.com/PjW3nG1pKg
Tomorrow they will learn their next opponents as the draw is made for the league phase of the competition.
By Tom Kundert
Vitória: Bruno Varela, Alberto Baio, Mikel Villanueva, Toni Borevković, João Mendes (João Mendes 46’), Manu Silva, Tomás Händel (Gustavo Silva 61’), Nuno Santos, Kaio César (Zé Carlos 61’), Ricardo Mangas (Miguel Maga 70’), Nélson Oliveira (Jesús Ramírez 60’)
Goals:
[0-1] Manu Silva (pen), 32’
[0-2] Nuno Santos, 42’
[0-3] Nélson Oliveira, 48’
[0-4] Gustavo Silva, 71’