SC Braga claimed an historic first win in the UEFA Champions League as they defeated Partizan Belgrade.
Braga win their first-ever Champions League game
After comprehensive defeats against Arsenal and Shakhtar Donetsk, SC Braga claimed an historic first-ever win in the UEFA Champions League.
Braga's defensive record had been woeful prior to this. They had conceded nine goals in those two games and showed little to suggest they would progress further.
Yet, football always has a way of providing a ray of hope. In this case, it came via a sumptuous free-kick from Lima after 35 minutes and a late goal by Matheus.
And just as importantly, they kept a clean sheet.
It was a game bereft of the quality that you would normally associate with Europe's premier club competition.
And if you were supporter, in these harsh economic times, you could be forgiven for feeling short changed.
Brazilians
With eight Brazilians in the Braga team - which was a Champions League record for the most players of the same nationality in the same team - you would have expected so much more.
Where was the samba football that is synonymous with this great footballing nation?
So many times, moves broke down as the wrong pass was selected or the lack of a killer instinct failed to add the gloss to an attacking move.
Partizan now have the unwanted record of losing all the Champions League games they have been involved in and on this display that record has little chance of improving.
Their striker Cleo had an effort tipped over the bar late on by Luiz Felipe in the Braga goal but they rarely threatened throughout.
Perhaps, their best chance of earning parity came within a minute of the home side taking the lead.
Wide
Full-back Aleksandar Lazevski controlled a pass as he surged into the penalty area but could only fire his shot wide of the goal.
Of the early exchanges, it was Partizan than had the better of them. Marko Scepovic and Cleo both had feeble shots from outside the area.
But the deadlock was broken when Lima steeped up to fire home a sweet free-kick from 25 yards.
Partizan 'keeper Vladimir Stojkovic's positioning could be questioned, as that of his wall, but the quality of the strike was pure.
Matheus had shown flashes of quality to invigorate this contest, which was also matched by his industry.
And he was rightly rewarded with a goal in the 90th minute following a swift counter attack that resulted with substitute Luis Agular squaring for him to tap into an empty net.
| Sporting Braga |
Team Statistics |
FK Partizan Belgrade |
| 2 |
Goals |
0 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 5 |
Shots on Target |
6 |
| 1 |
Shots off Target |
4 |
| 5 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 4 |
Corners |
4 |
| 17 |
Fouls |
20 |
| 0 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 73.2 |
Passing Success |
77.8 |
| 16 |
Tackles |
22 |
| 68.8 |
Tackles Success |
77.3 |
| 47.2 |
Possession |
52.8 |
| 54.7 |
Territorial Advantage |
45.3 |
|
