Rio Ave 1-1 Vizela - Relegation battlers pick up a point in the Primeira Liga | OneFootball

Rio Ave came from behind at Estádio dos Arcos where they earned a 1-1 draw against Vizela. Emmanuel Boateng went close on the stroke of half-time before the visitors opened the scoring in the 56th minute.

It was a sensational strike from Samuel Essende, the French forward scoring his seventh goal of the season after finishing off Tomás Silva’s cross with a spectacular overhead bicycle kick.

Rio Ave drew level in the 72nd minute when Boateng got on the end of Costinha’s cross and headed past Fabijan Buntić.

Vizela were reduced to 10 men two minutes later when Matías Lacava received a second yellow card. Leonardo Ruiz nearly produced a dramatic winner in added time when his headed effort was cleared off the line by Buntić.

Slow start

The slow start in Vila do Conde came as no surprise with both teams struggling to score this season and separated by just one point on the Primeira Liga table. It took 17 minutes for the first shot to be fired in anger, Guga dragging his left-footed effort wide.

Vizela began to making inroads down the left wing where Matías Lacava was getting plenty of the ball. Tomás Silva got forward and saw his shot blocked before a mistake from Aderllan Santos resulted in Jhonatan saving Alex Méndez’s low curler.

Fabijan Buntić was called into action for the first time when Amine Oudrhiri tried his luck from distance, the goalkeeper diving at full stretch and thankful to see the ball sail wide. The visitors created another chance when Jhonatan comfortably collected Samuel Essende’s scuffed shot.

The best opportunity of the half came in the 40th minute when Emmanuel Boateng went close. The in-form forward did well to twist and turn his way past Anderson and Rodrigo Escoval before dragging his shot narrowly past the post.

Game on!

The second half was an immediate improvement on the first and it took just 11 minutes for Vizela to take the lead. Tomás Silva teased a floating cross into the box where Samuel Essende produced a spectacular overhead bicycle kick, Jhonatan getting a hand on the ball but unable to keep it out of the net.

Luís Freire immediately made a triple substitution as João Graça, Hernâni and Leonardo Ruiz came on for Oudrhiri, Joca and André Pereira.

Pablo Villar then went to his bench and replaced Pedro Ortiz and Alex Méndez with Aleksandar Busnic and Matheus Pereira. Freire made another change to with Miguel Nóbrega making way for Frederico Namora.

Rio Ave equalised in the 72nd minute and the goal came from a predictable source, Boateng meeting Costinha’s cross and heading powerfully past Buntić.

Vizela go a man down

Two minutes later the hosts were given a big boost when Vizela were reduced to 10 men. Lacava, who had already been booked in the 52nd minute for preventing a counter attack, made a brain dead play when he prevented Boateng from breaking clear, giving referee Gustavo Correia no option other than brandishing second yellow card.

Rio Ave and their supporters smelled blood in the water but had to wait until the 90th minute to create a decent chance, Ruiz’s deflected strike forcing Buntić to scramble the ball away from the top corner.

The Croatian keeper went one better in added time when he produced the best save of the game. Ruiz met Josué Sá’s cross and headed into the ground towards goal, Buntić going to ground and slapping the ball away to preserve the point.

By at Estádio dos Arcos

Highlights