Liga II roundup: Penafiel end Torreense’s winning run as leaders Tondela slip up
The 15th round of the Segunda Liga brought us some surprises, especially at the summit. The list of promotion contenders has grown to six clubs (since Benfica B cannot be promoted), with the leading duo opening up a six-point buffer to the chasing pack.
Tondela had the chance to increase their lead at the top of the league, but Chaves didn’t make the job easy. The match ended 2-2 draw between two promotion contenders in one of the games of the round.
Late penalty gives Penafiel the three points at Torreense
However, the main course was the Torreense v Penafiel match. Torreense had a chance of equalling the points of Penafiel in second place, and honestly, they have played better this season. However, not only from bread and water can a man live and Penafiel knew that Torreense had their spirits high and waited patiently for their opportunity. That being said, the only goal came from a penalty that João Silva initially missed, before scrambling in the rebound with just a few minutes left to play.
What was an opportunity for Torreense turned out to be an opportunity for Penafiel to draw level with leaders Tondela in the first place on 31 points, at the same time ending a 6-game unbeaten streak for Torreense.
Torreense 0-1 Penafiel highlights
União de Leiria and Leixões won their respective matches against the red lanterns Oliveirense and Mafra, which saw both victors rise from mid-table and cement themselves as promotion contenders. Leiria now have 21 points and Leixões 22, which means that they are only 4 and 3 points away from the playoff promotion spot, currently held by Académico de Viseu. However, União de Leiria has two very difficult matches to come against Tondela and Chaves. Will they continue to climb as we move into the second half of the season?
At the bottom of the table, not much has changed. Oliveirense still have just a single win, against Feirense in September. After that, it is now 9 straight games without a win for this team, eight of them being losses, this time against União de Leiria. We haven’t even reached the middle of the season and yet the relegation of Oliveirense is almost a certainty.
Another team not having a good campaign are FC Porto B. Benfica B are in the promotion spots (even though they can’t go up) and the Dragões are in the relegation spots. That is definitely not what you want for a team designed to develop young players in a professional championship and environment. FC Porto B only have 2 wins in 15 games: against Mafra and Oliveirense, their “relegation buddies”. Either way, it doesn’t look pleasant for FC Porto. They need to change their manager as soon as possible. It is not working.
Player of the week: Domen Gril
Portimonense and Académico de Viseu went head-to-head this week. Even though they were favourites going into the match, the visitors did not show persistence or any dominance in the game. Portimonense, on the other hand, were almost perfect, reading the opposition like a book. They created more than 20 chances to score in a game that ended 1-1. Académico came away from the Algarve with a draw thanks to their Slovenian monster called Domen Gril.
Gril is by far the best goalkeeper in the League when we take into account everything we look for in a goalkeeper: agility, security, playing with their feet. Gril has it all and if it wasn’t for the “money power” that Académico has since their SAD was bought by the owners of Hoffenheim, he would already be at a Primeira Liga club. A menace against Portimonense that made sure that the Viriathus could spend their Christmas in a promotion place.