Porto beat Rio Ave 2-0 thanks to goals from Nehuén Pérez and Borja Sainz | OneFootball

Porto proved why they are the favourites to defend their Liga Portugal title after a comfortable 2-0 victory against Rio Ave in Vila do Conde.

It didn’t take long for the Dragons to go ahead, Nehuén Pérez heading Gabri Veiga's corner into the net in the 11th minute.

Francesco Farioli’s side thought they had doubled their advantage in the 34th minute when another corner wasn’t cleared, Jakub Kiwior’s goal ruled out after Deniz Gül was caught offside by the VAR.

Diogo Costa tipped Tamble Monteiro’s header over the bar on the stroke of half-time but it proved to be Rio Ave’s only effort on target in the encounter.

Porto were on top after the break, William Gomes forcing a save from Ennio van der Gouw before Gül headed Pepê's cross against the post.

Borja Sainz came off the bench and would dominate the closing stages. He was denied by Van der Gouw before sealing the deal in the 82nd minute, slotting the ball into the net following a clever pass from Hwang In-Beom.

Farioli’s side won the 2025-26 title on the back of a dominant defence and it's already appearing that we will see a repeat performance this season, especially with Benfica and Sporting struggling to keep clean sheets.