Portuguese Abroad goals round-up: João Félix answers critics with brace; Neves earns Wolves point; Jota on target for Celtic; Josué scores first career hat-trick in Poland
João Félix made a strong return to goalscoring form this weekend after a controversial few days with Atletico Madrid. The Portugal forward came off the bench to score twice and seemingly earn Atletico a draw at Cadiz, only for Los Rojiblancos to concede a stoppage-time winner in La Liga.
Rúben Neves continues to inspire at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League, scoring another goal to ensure his team claimed a share of the spoils against Brentford. Elsewhere, Jota was back among the goals for Celtic in Scotland and former Porto and Portugal midfielder Josué scored a hat-trick for Legia Warsaw in the Polish Ekstraklasa.
João Félix denied match-saving cameo
There was much talk about João Félix in the build-up to Atletico Madrid’s trip to Cadiz in Spain this weekend. The Portuguese was the subject of criticism in midweek after he chose to watch Atletico’s last-gasp penalty miss against Bayer Leverkusen from the by-line instead of contesting the rebound, with the Spanish side exiting the competition having failed to score from the opportunity.
Félix then drew controversy for reportedly spending the rest of the evening enjoying a night out with friends, although coach Diego Simeone moved to dampen talk of disciplinary action and the former Benfica man was included in the squad for the Cadiz match. Simeone introduced Félix on the hour as Atleti trailed 1-0, and a second goal for Cadiz with ten minutes remaining appeared to render the closing stages a formality.
However, Félix initiated a remarkable ending to the match when he volleyed in from a corner with the aid of a deflection five minutes from time. The 22-year-old then levelled for Atletico in the 89th minute, picking up possession outside the box and unleashing a rasping right-footed shot which flew past Jeremias Ledesma. Unfortunately for Atletico and Félix, there was one final twist in the match provided by Cadiz forward Sobrino’s 98th-minute winner.
Commenting after the defeat, Simeone told reporters of Félix: “The pitch speaks. The pitch has the truth. He came in to do what he knows how to do, and he did it very well, he scored a goal with a bit of luck, but with the initiative to create danger. He was the most dangerous of our forwards. The second is a great goal. Hopefully he can keep it up because this is the player we all want.”
“An important point” as Neves lifts Wolves again
Wolverhampton Wanderers were again indebted to their captain Rúben Neves this weekend for earning a point from their Premier League match at Brentford. Neves scored with a trademark shot from outside the box to ensure the teams shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw in London, registering his third goal of the season in the process.
Wolves have won just one of their four matches since dispensing with manager Bruno Lage, but Neves suggests there was cause for optimism after the draw at Brentford. With José Sá, Toti, Neves, Matheus Nunes, João Moutinho and Daniel Podence in the starting line-up, Wolves had more attempts and shots on target than their opponents.
Ruben Neves doing what Ruben Neves does best!
— Wolves (@Wolves) October 29, 2022
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“It was an important point,” Neves said after the game. “Of course, we came here to win the game. We showed that since the beginning, we were very compact – different to last week and we had a few chances.
“It’s a really hard stadium to come to, they have a great team and are doing a great season, so in the end it’s an important point for us. It gives us a little bit of confidence now, we have three games in a row at home, so it’s a great opportunity for us.
“My goal? As soon as Nelson passed the ball to Traore, I thought I was in the better position to shoot, and he did really well to leave the ball, because it’s not easy when you’re in that position to leave the ball to your teammates.
“Then with the bodies that were in front of the goalkeeper, it was really hard for him to save it. It was a good goal, really important because it was straight after their goal, but it would have been better to win the game.”
“Fantastic” Josué nets hat-trick
Former Porto and Portugal midfielder Josué scored a hat-trick for the first time in his career in Poland. The 4-time Seleção international got his treble for Legia Warsaw in a 5-2 victory at Jagiellonia Bialystok on Saturday in the Ekstraklasa, after which he was inevitably voted Man of the Match.
“Personally, in this match my performance was fantastic,” he told reporters. “I am happy with getting three points and a good team performance. The most important thing is victory. It’s a happy day for me!
“I’m happy if my team wins. Goals and assists aren’t the most important thing. Legia’s victories count. In the end, we all fight for one goal. If you ask me if I would rather create the assists or score a hat-trick, I will definitely choose scoring goals.”
The rest: Jota on target in Scotland as Paixão bags Turkish brace
Former Benfica forward Jota scored for the first time in the Scottish Premiership for almost two months for Celtic this weekend, getting the final goal in a 3-0 win at Livingston. The victory means Celtic maintain their four-point lead over Rangers at the top of the table, ahead of Jota and his teammates playing at the Bernabeu against Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday.
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— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) October 30, 2022
A great forward run from Turnbull is picked out by Abada, and the midfielder lays it across the box for Jota to slot home at the back post!#LIVCEL | #cinchPrem | #COYBIG???? pic.twitter.com/nzu8gUS1ny
The leading goalscorer in the Kazakhstani Premier League, Pedro Eugénio, got the second for leaders Astana in a 2-0 win at Kyzyl-Zhar. In Turkey, former Sporting midfielder Miguel Cardoso scored in Kayserispor’s 2-2 Super Lig draw with Adana Demirspor, while in the second tier the irrepressible Marco Paixão, 38, struck twice for Altay to give them a 2-1 victory at Sakaryaspor.
There were two Portuguese on the scoresheet for English National League leaders Notts County this weekend, with both Rúben Rodrigues and Quevin Castro on the mark helping them beat Torquay 4-0 on Saturday. In Japan, Montedio Yamagata reached the J2 League play-off final after getting the better of Fagiano Okayama 3-0 away from home, with Tiago Alves scoring the final goal.
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— ???????? Footy (@PortugalFootyEN) October 31, 2022
Douglas Aurélio is in fine form in Latvia and scored for the fourth match running to help Riga overcome Auda 2-0 in the Virsliga. Another player enjoying a strong start to the season is Rui Pedro in Slovenia, where the former Penafiel attacker scored to help Olimpija to a 2-1 victory over Koper in their top of the table clash.
Finally, Hugo Firmino struck twice for Ararat-Armenia in a 5-0 hammering of Shirak in the Armenian Premier League, while Celso Raposo’s goal was not enough to prevent Lokomotiv Sofia from a 2-1 defeat at Cherno More in Bulgaria.
By Sean Gillen