William Carvalho was the star of the show as Real Betis beat Almeria this weekend to continue their impressive start to the La Liga season. The Portugal midfielder struck twice to help Betis to a 3-1 victory, demonstrating that he looks set to be one of the Seleção’s most in-form players ahead of the World Cup.
Elsewhere, Wolverhampton Wanderers secured their first victory of the post-Bruno Lage era thanks to a Rúben Neves penalty against Nottingham Forest, as rumours persist that Nuno Espírito Santo could return to the club. Portuguese international Adrien Silva was also on the scoresheet this weekend, along with U21 international Marcos Paulo in the Spanish second tier and Josué in Poland.
Real Betis coach Manuel Pellegrini was high in praise of William Carvalho on Sunday after the Portuguese struck twice in their 3-1 win over Almeria. The former Sporting man had an excellent campaign in Andalusia last term and has begun this season in similarly impressive fashion, establishing himself as one of the team’s key players.
The opener at the Estadio Benito Villamarín on Sunday was started and finished by Carvalho midway through the first half. The Seleção man received the ball in the centre-circle and sprayed a pass out to the left, before making a run into the box to finish at the back post from a deflected cross to put his team ahead.
El Bilal Toure equalised for Almeria early in the second period, but Borja Iglesias soon restored the hosts’ advantage with a crisp finish. The points were sealed for Betis when Carvalho again found himself in the opposition box during a break forward and finished calmly when picked out by Iglesias on 70 minutes.
“Everyone feels useful and they are useful because they are playing in a habitual way,” Betis coach Pellegrini said after the game. “William Carvalho made the difference because he is a great player and he is having a great season.”
Wolverhampton Wanderers won for the first time since dispensing with Bruno Lage and it was a tale of two penalties in their victory over Nottingham Forest at Molineux. Wolves ran out 1-0 victors on an afternoon in which both sides were awarded second-half spot kicks, but Rúben Neves’ conversion proved the winner.
Wolves sacked Portuguese boss Lage at the beginning of the month following a defeat to West Ham which left them in the relegation zone. Interim coach Steven Davis oversaw a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea in the subsequent game, but Saturday’s meeting with struggling Nottingham Forest offered the chance to lift the spirits.
After a goalless first half, Wolves took the lead ten minutes into the second period when a penalty was issued for handball and captain Neves stepped up to fire into the bottom left corner. However, ten minutes from time Forest were awarded the chance to spoil the party when Adama Traore was also penalised inside the box for handball, but Portuguese goalkeeper José Sá saved his side two points by fantastically saving Brennan Johnson’s effort from twelve yards.
“I’m very happy to help the team because it was a very important win for us and of course I’m very happy to help the team reach these three points,” Sá told reporters.
“We study all of the players and I’m happy to save the penalty. I felt that he would shoot to my left and I moved that way with everything, so I’m happy to save it.”
The save ???? pic.twitter.com/qDHViE2EZK
— Wolves (@Wolves) October 15, 2022
Skipper Neves added: “We spoke about it all week, we knew the importance of this game for us. I think we did a fantastic first half, Forest tried to slow down the game, taking a lot of time with the goalkeeper, every time they got goal kicks or the ball in his hands, it took a while to play the game.
“We had a lot of chances in the first half, second half we started really well to the game. We scored and after scoring it’s hard, we wanted to keep the ball, but when you’re in a moment like this, you just want to close your goal.
“Of course, we conceded a penalty, but Sá made a fantastic save. It was massive. We conceded a penalty from a set play. We were a bit struggling after our goal, because we wanted to keep the ball, it’s been hard for us to get points.
“Maybe we were a bit nervous after our goal, but Sá is a very good goalkeeper, he showed it last season, he’s showing it again, and saving a penalty is really important for us.
“They didn’t have too many chances, we were compact, fighting for every ball as if it was the last one, and that’s the spirit we want.”
The rest: Adrien, Josué on target as Marcos Paulo opens Spanish account
Adrien Silva scored his first goal of the season in the United Arab Emirates this weekend for Al Wahda. The former Portugal international benefited from an assist provided by countryman Rúben Canedo to equalise for his team in their trip to Al Ain, after which Al Wahda went on to win 3-1, with 20-year-old Canedo registering another assist.
???????? Portuguese connection on Al-Wahda's first as Rúben Amaral, who assisted twice, passed to Adrien Silva to open the scoreboard for their side. pic.twitter.com/gLEXJpUUay
— ???????? Footy (@PortugalFootyEN) October 15, 2022
In the Spanish second tier, there was a goal for Portugal U20 international Marcos Paulo, who is attempting to revive his career following a slow start to life in European football. The Brazilian-born forward was signed by Atletico Madrid last summer, after which he spent a non-eventful stint on loan in Portugal with Famalicão. Now in the Spanish Segunda Division with Mirandes, the Atletico-owned Portuguese thought he had secured a point for Mirandes with a 94th-minute equaliser at Burgos, but the hosts snatched a last-gasp winner to claim a 2-1 victory.
Ex-Porto man Josué scored from the penalty spot in Legia Warsaw’s 2-1 defeat to Wisla Plock in the Polish Ekstraklasa, while Rúben Brígido struck twice for Kaspiy in Kazakhstan. Veteran striker Marco Paixão scored for Altay in the Turkish 1 Lig as they drew 1-1 at Manisa. In Cyprus, there was a goal for former Boavista striker Rafael Lopes in AEK Larnaca’s 4-2 win over Olympiakos Nicosia, and for Marco Baixinho for Anorthosis who were held 1-1 at Enosis.
???????? Former Paços de Ferreira captain Marco Baixinho scored his first goal for his new club Anorthosis. pic.twitter.com/tiGPIY55JI
— ???????? Footy (@PortugalFootyEN) October 15, 2022
Finally, Douglas Aurélio scored for the second week running in Latvia for Riga as they hammered BFC Daugavpils 4-0 in the Virsliga; Thierry Moutinho struck for Levadiakos in Greece in a 2-1 defeat at Volos; well-travelled striker Jucie Lupeta bagged a brace in Israel’s Liga Leumit for Maccabi Kabilio Jaffa to give them a 2-1 win over Agudat Sport Ashdod.
By Sean Gillen
