Portuguese Abroad goals round-up: Nunes screamer gives Wolves win over Chelsea; Paciência earns late point for Carvalhal’s Celta; Jota helps Celtic to Old Firm victory; Josué hits personal best in Poland | OneFootball

Matheus Nunes finally has his first goal for Wolverhampton Wanderers, and the Portuguese midfielder ensured it was worth the wait by scoring a stunning winner against Chelsea in the Premier League.

Gonçalo Paciência was the hero for Celta Vigo in Spain, as Carlos Carvalhal’s side staged a late comeback to draw 2-2 at Sevilla in Spain. Elsewhere, Celtic look destined to retain their Scottish Premiership title after Jota’s goal proved the winner in a thrilling Glasgow derby victory over rivals Rangers.

Matheus Nunes had gone 30 appearances without scoring for Wolverhampton Wanderers heading into this weekend’s home clash with Chelsea in the Premier League. A €45m capture from Sporting last summer, Nunes has been a regular fixture in the Wolves midfield this term, but had yet to find the net as his side hosted out-of-form Chelsea at Molineux.

Appropriately, the match was settled after 30 minutes, with Nunes opening his account in English football with a goal of spectacular quality. Daniel Podence’s cross was flicked away from apparent danger by Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly, only for the ball to drop on the far side of the penalty area for Nunes, who connected with a thumping volley which flew past Kepa.

Wolves manager Julien Lopetegui fielded five Portuguese in his line-up - José Sá in goal; Nélson Semedo at right-back and Toti at left-back; Nunes and Daniel Podence across the midfield – while João Moutinho was introduced in the second half and Pedro Neto was an unused substitute. New Chelsea boss Frank Lampard selected João Félix but the former Benfica man was replaced midway through the second half.

“In the moment I only thought about shooting, I didn’t think about anything else and luckily it went in,” Nunes told the media after the match. “It was a very good [result] not only because of the win, but for the spirit and the courage. We were playing against a very good team, a very talented as a collective and individuals, but I think we did very well.

“Playing without Neves? Of course, he’s our captain and a very important player for the team. Not only because of his skill inside the pitch, but also the spirit he puts on the team. But we have a lot of good players, and we did very well today, hopefully next week will be the same.”

Late Paciência goal earns Carvalhal’s Celta draw

Carlos Carvalhal’s Celta Vigo continue to prove tough to beat in La Liga, after a late comeback point earned at Sevilla. Celta were 2-0 down at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan against their 10-man opponents with a couple of minutes remaining, but snatched a point with two quickfire goals to extend their unbeaten run.

Sevilla survived Pape Gueye’s controversial early red card to lead 1-0 at the break through Youssef En-Nesyri, and a brilliant second from ex-Sporting man Marcos Acuna appeared to settle things with ten minutes remaining. However, Celta pulled one back through Miguel Gutierrez with a minute of normal time remaining to set up a tense finish.

Four minutes of stoppage time were added and with the clock heading toward the 94th minute, Portuguese substitute Gonçalo Paciência made his mark. The striker again showed his quality in the air, rising to brilliantly nod home Hugo Mallo’s cross and give Celta a share of the spoils. Acuna was sent off in the aftermath of the goal for his protests, leaving the hosts to finish the match with nine men.

“It was a balanced game,” Carvalhal said. “I think we started the game well and then the sending off greatly affected the game. Sevilla lowered the lines, got together, defended with quality and tried to come out with a counterattack. On one of those counter-attacks, they got a corner and then came the goal, which made things even more difficult for us.

“They closed in even more and it was very difficult to penetrate their defensive organization. Almost out of nowhere, it became to 2-0, which I think was unfair at the time. From there, we believed until the end, we risked everything and we were able to make it 2-2. I’m happy when my players believe until the last second, even though it wasn’t a well-played game on our part. We clearly earned our point.”

Jota scores in Old Firm as Celtic close in on Premiership

Celtic look destined to successfully defend their Scottish Premiership title after a classic Old Firm Derby victory over arch-rivals Rangers. Portuguese forward Jota scored what proved to be the winner to put the Hoops 3-1 up in the Glasgow showdown, which saw Celtic move 12 points clear at the top with just seven matches remaining.

The former Benfica man showed superb sharpness to read John Souttar’s back-pass and get to the ball first, taking it past Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor and finishing from an acute angle. The goal was Jota’s 11th Premiership goal of the campaign, which took him past his tally from last season and registered a new personal best in domestic league competition.

On his goal, which proved crucial in a 3-2 victory, the Portuguese told reporters: "We always need to be ready for whatever happens in the game because moments keep happening and we just need to take our chances. I just tried to take mine and thankfully it went in.

“It was a big shift from the lads and I’m so happy with the support we had and we keep on going now.”

The rest: Josué sets new personal best; Silva on the mark in Netherlands

Veteran Portuguese midfielder Josué scored twice for Legia Warsaw in Poland on Sunday evening in their 2-2 draw at bottom-placed Miedz Legnica. The result was a setback for Legia’s title hopes, but for Josué his brace saw him break into double figures in a league season for the first time in his career.

Legia’s failure to win the match, during which they relied on a late Josué penalty to earn a draw, means they failed to make up ground on Ekstraklasa leaders Rakow Czestochowa, who remain six points clear. Josué is only one goal shy of the league’s highest goalscorers – Jesus Imaz of Jagiellonia and Mikael Ishak of Lech Poznan.

Fábio Silva scored his 17th goal of what is undoubtedly his breakthrough season as a goalscorer, helping PSV to a 4-0 win over Excelsior in the Dutch Eredivisie. Silva, who is contracted to Wolverhampton Wanderers, scored 11 goals on-loan at Belgian side Anderlecht in the first half of the season, and his header from Xavi Simons’ cross was his 6th for PSV.

In Greece, there was a goal for former Benfica-owned youngster Tiago Dantas for PAOK, helping them to a 4-2 victory over Volos. Across to neighbouring Turkey, and former Sporting forward Carlos Mané scored the final goal to put the seal on Kayserispor’s 3-1 win against Umraniyespor on Monday. In Cyprus, Anorthosis won 2-0 at AEL with ex Paços Ferreira man Hélder Ferreira on the scoresheet.

The biggest win of the weekend in Belgium’s First Division A saw Sint-Truiden triumph 5-0 at home against KV Oostende, which began with experienced defender Jorge Teixeira getting the opener. 37-year-old striker João Moreira has spent much of the last decade in Australia and New Zealand, and he got his first goal of the new NZ National League for Manukau United in their 3-1 win at West Coast Rangers.

Unbeaten Qarabag are closing in on retaining the Premyer Liga in Azerbaijan, after extending their lead at the top to 12 points as Leonard Andrade scored in a 3-1 win over Kapaz. Finally, to Luxembourg and a remarkable 8-0 win for Differdange over UN Kaerjeng was completed by 20-year-old Portugal-born forward João Simões getting his 7th of the campaign.