Borja Sainz strikes twice as Porto beat Alverca 3-0; Pavlidis penalty gives Benfica 1-0 win over Famalicão | OneFootball

Leaders FC Porto clocked up yet another win in the Liga Portugal, beating Alverca 3-0 to guarantee they will spend Christmas with their five-point buffer intact, and the gap to second-placed Sporting could be increased if the Lions drop points in Guimarães tomorrow.

Borja Sainz scored twice for Porto against Alverca, the first a brilliant team goal, the second a stunning individual strike

Later on Monday night, Benfica kept up their strong form by beating Famalicão 1-0 in Lisbon to register a fourth straight victory during which they have not conceded a single goal.

Alverca 0-3 Porto

Porto have not always played brilliantly this season but they have been relentless in terms of getting the job done under new coach Francesco Farioli.

From the moment Borja Sainz headed into the net in the 29th minute after a superb move involving Samu and Rodrigo Mora, all doubts were dispelled that Porto would be enjoying win number 14 in 15 Liga Portugal matches this season.

Alan Varela doubled Porto’s lead shortly before the hour mark, and Sainz put the cherry on the cake with a stupendous curling shot into the top corner to complete a routine 3-0 victory for the Blue and Whites.

“I’m very happy with the result, with the display and to give this present to our fans,” said Farioli after the match.

At this rate, it’s going to take a huge effort by either Sporting or Benfica to prevent the Dragons from winning their first title in four seasons.

Alverca 0-3 Porto highlights

Benfica 1-0 Famalicão

José Mourinho’s Benfica are starting to become a recognisable José Mourinho team. Although not exactly dazzling, the side are incomparably more solid than in the first months of the campaign.

Tonight at the Estádio da Luz Benfica did an excellent job at shackling a strong Famalicão team, whose only defeats in 2025/26 before tonight had come against Sporting, Porto and Braga. The visitors barely had a sniff of a goal during the 90 minutes in the Portuguese capital.

Benfica did not create a bundle of chances themselves, but were the more dangerous team throughout the 90 minutes and deserved their 1-0 victory.

The last week in Portuguese football has been dominated by Sporting’s controversial penalty in the Azores to save them from defeat against Santa Clara. The same referee again pointed to the spot when Otamendi fell to the ground having been caught by Justin de Haas’s outstretched arm as the Dutch centre-back jumped to contest the ball. The decision was more understandable than the Sporting penalty, but neither incident would have likely led to spot kicks in leagues outside the whistle-happy Portuguese championship.

The penalty was smashed into the top corner by Vangelis Pavlidis, enabling the red-hot Greek striker to pull further away at the top of the goal-scoring charts having found the net 14 times in 15 Liga Portugal games.

“It was a deserved win, but not a beautiful one,” said Mourinho post-match. “It was not a victory of talent and beauty, like in our recent games, but of hard work and organisation, of rigour and humility, against a good team that lost away for the first time.”