The victory ensured they won the championship in style, moving eight points clear of last season’s champions Benfica who have won a record 37 titles. Porto only led Benfica by one point when the campaign resumed following the coronavirus lockdown last month, but their old rivals have faltered and coach Bruno Lage was replaced as coach with their title defence in tatters.
The home side got off to a nervy start at the Estadio do Dragao, as Sporting forward Andraz Sporar saw a goal ruled out by VAR for offside in the very first minute. Midfielder Danilo Pereira scored just his second league goal this term in the 64th minute though, allowing Porto to cruise through the rest of the game.
Mali striker Moussa Marega added a second in injury-time, his 11th of the triumphant campaign. Porto, Benfica and Sporting have won the Portuguese league title every year bar two between them since the inaugural season in 1934-35.
But Benfica had been dominant in recent years, with this only Porto’s second championship since 2013 after also taking the spoils in the 2017-18 season. Sporting, who sit a distant third this term, have not lifted the trophy since 2002.
Verona coach Juric
banned for one match
for insulting officials
Hellas Verona coach Ivan Juric has been banned for one match and fined 15,000 euros ($17,110) for insulting the referee and linesmen during a 2-1 loss at AS Roma, Serie A’s disciplinary tribunal said.
Juric was ordered from the touchline for dissent after the referee awarded a penalty to Roma in the 10th minute of Wednesday’s game. Roma’s Jordan Veretout converted the resulting spot kick.
The Italian top-flight’s disciplinary tribunal said in a statement the coach received the ban and fine for having “addressed the referee with disrespectful remarks as well as exclaiming offensive phrases towards the linesmen”. Verona, ninth in the standings with 44 points, host second-placed Atalanta tomorrow.
Flamengo win 36th Rio title after controversial restart
Flamengo won a record 36th Rio state championship with a 1-0 win in the second leg of the final against Fluminense, whom they had beaten 2-1 in the first leg.
A 95th-minute Vitinho goal late ensured the triumph for the legendary Rio de Janeiro club, reigning champions and holders of the Copa Libertadores 2019, the South American equivalent of the European Champions League.
The Campeonato Carioca state league was the first to resume in South America on 18 June after football on the continent was brought to a halt by the coronavirus pandemic. Among the 26 state leagues in Brazil, the championship in Santa Catarina, in the south of the country, restarted last week before being interrupted three days later after the discovery of 14 Covid-19 cases among the staff and players at Chapecoense.
On Monday, the championship in Ceara, in the north-east, also resumed and other states could soon follow. The Rio championship resumed amid controversy, with Flamengo insisting on playing while Fluminense and Botafogo, two of the city’s four big clubs, threatened a boycott, saying that at the height of the pandemic football was not a priority. Both were eventually forced to play and expressed their opposition on banners and jerseys. Fluminense refused to play first two games at their normal home stadium, the Maracana, so that patients from a field hospital on the same site as the stadium could continue to receive treatment.
England to host Wales
in Wembley friendly
England will face Wales in a friendly at Wembley on October 8, football chiefs announced. The game will be played behind closed doors before both sides return to Nations League action the following weekend. It will be the first meeting between the two sides since Daniel Sturridge’s last-minute winner gave England a 2-1 victory during the group stages of Euro 2016. The fixture will be the first international to be held at Wembley since the coronavirus outbreak.
England take on Nations League rivals Iceland and Denmark in September but both games are away from home. Ryan Giggs’ Wales will make the short journey to face Ireland three days after the Wembley friendly, while England host Belgium on the same day.