Benfica, Porto maintain blistering pace

Benfica maintained their two-point advantage at the top of the Portuguese Liga with a 3-1 win over Gil Vicente, while second-placed FC Porto triumphed by the same scoreline at home to Vitoria Guimaraes. Oscar Cardozo's first-half strike for Benfica was cancelled out by a Rodrigo Galo equaliser five minutes before the break, but second-half goals from Rodrigo Moreno and substitute Pablo Aimar sealed the three points. Jorge Rolando and Joao Moutinho put Porto in the ascendancy against Guimaraes, who halved the deficit through substitute Abdelghani Faouzi, but then saw any hopes of a draw snuffed out by James Rodriguez's penalty. Third-spotted Braga also triumphed, 2-1 against Rio Ave, to remain eight points off the pace. Douglao and Helder Barbosa put the hosts in control with goals in the space of five minutes just before the interval, with a last-minute penalty from substitute Bruno Braga the visitors' only consolation. Elsewhere, basement boys Pacos Ferreira recorded only their third win of the campaign with a 2-1 home victory over second-bottom Vitoria Setubal. All the goals came in the final nine minutes, Rafael Lopes putting Vitoria ahead only for Manuel Jose's late double, the second a last-gasp penalty, to turn the game on its head. Finally, a goal in each half from Dejan Skolnik and Moreno earned Nacional a 2-0 win against Feirense.