On the 5th of March, in this week 23 match, Sporting Braga hosts Rio Ave in a clash of these two mismatched Primeira Liga teams. Weather on match day is looking like a cloudy and cool day, with daytime temperatures of only 7 degrees, making for an unpleasant day. Sporting Braga is fresh off their 1-2 loss against Vitória SC. Tiago Silva struck first for Vitória SC in the 31st minute on a penalty, then Safira added another in the 41st minute. Sporting Braga looks to continue their winning ways, having won 8 of their last 10, while rio Ave sits at 9th place in the tables. In their last match they recorded a 1-0 shutout win against Chaves. Fabio Ronaldo Costa Conceicao scored the first goal for Rio Ave in the 53rd minute, and that was all the excitement the two teams could muster In the end, Chaves was frustrated by Rio Ave’s defence and couldn’t put any tallies on the board. Rio Ave ended the match with the shutout victory. Rio Ave is looking for direction having earned 12 points in their last 10 matches.
On Sep 11th, Rio Ave hosted Sporting Braga at the Estádio Do Rio Ave Futebol Clube in their last match together. Sporting Braga took the match by a score of 3 to 2. Almoatasembellah Ali Mohamed struck first for Sporting Braga in the 11th minute, then Iuri Medeiros added another in the 25th minute.
Abdul-Aziz Yakubu and Joãozinho are the top scorers for Rio Ave in the last five matches, but unfortunately they only have one goal. It’s hard to imagine having success with those stats. Simon Banza has been the most prolific scorer on Sporting Braga in the last five matches with three goals.