Casa Pia 1 Nacional 0 Liga Portugal.
MId-table Casa Pia hosted Madeira’s CD Nacional in Rio Maior before a crowd of around 1000 with the visitors featuring no less than seven Brazilians in their lineup.
They included loan players Ulisses (from Vasco da Gama), Daniel Penha, Isaac (both from Atl. Mineiro), Gustavo Garcia (from Palmeiras) and Matheus Dias (from Internacional)
But it was the son of a famous Dutch father – Ruben Kluivert – who decided the outcome late in the first half when he headed in a corner from Nuno Moreira (both teams had practised corner plays in the warm ups)
It was the most significant action in a fairly cagey first 45.
That pattern of limited chances continued in the second period as Casa Pia consolidated while Nacional struggled to create, despite having more possession.
The visitors did, however, bring out good saves from Costa Rican Patrick Sequeira in the home goal, especially from Isaac.
And Nacional pressed in the closing minutes from a series of corners, again without success.
Near the end there was an altercation between the respective benches which resulted in a red card for each team and left somewhat of a sour taste.
One interesting note was the late cameo appearance of 40-year-old ex-Premier League player Jose Fonte for the home side.
Ultimately Casa Pia moved into the top ten of the Portuguese Liga, and Nacional stayed in the down in the relegation places (despite all those Brazilians)
Report – John Bethell