eusebio-ronaldo-figo

Portuguese Abroad goals round-up: Sérgio Oliveira hitting the ground running in Rome; Moutinho, Neves guide Wolves to victory; Danilo scores in PSG win; Carvalho continues to shine with Fulham

Sérgio Oliveira is enjoying a dream start to life in Italy with José Mourinho’s Roma. The Portuguese midfielder followed up his debut goal from last weekend with another – plus an assist – as the Giallorossi cruised to a 4-2 victory at Empoli on Sunday night.

The other main headline makers this weekend were Wolves duo João Moutinho and Rúben Neves, both of whom scored superb goals as Bruno Lage’s side won against Brentford in the English Premier League. Elsewhere, there was a goal for Danilo Pereira in France for Paris Saint-Germain, while Fábio Carvalho, Lucas João and Dany Mota struck in the second tiers of England and Italy.

Roma boss José Mourinho praised the impact of new signing Sérgio Oliveira after the FC Porto loanee once again shined in Sunday’s win at Empoli. Oliveira scored the winner from the penalty spot on his debut last week against Cagliari, and the midfielder continued his fine start to life in Italy by setting up Tammy Abraham for the opener at the Stadio Carlo Castellani on 24 minutes.

Abraham scored again before Oliveira made it 3-0 with a well-taken finish on 35 minutes to make it two in two for the 29-year-old. Nicolo Zaniolo made it 4-0 before half time and Mourinho’s men survived a second-half fightback from the hosts, who struck twice but could not prevent the visitors earning a third straight win in all competitions.

“This is a great result,” Mourinho declared. “The 4-2 is a great result for us. Before this match we knew about Lazio-Atalanta and Fiorentina’s draw. For us the first half was fundamental. For TV, the second half is better for the audience. Compliments to Empoli for coming back alive and giving their opponents a real run for their money. Congratulations to them.”

On his new Portuguese signing, Mourinho added: “He is different from the others but he is not the regista that people talk about. He is not that and I knew that as Portuguese football is my own. I knew he gave a difference in physique and decisions.

“He’s not a technical phenomenon but it’s difficult for him to make wrong decisions. He knows how to manage the timing as he showed at the end by taking a foul. He has played at a club that wants to win and has learned some behaviours and mentality that we need.”

Moutinho, Neves lead Wolves to victory

Wolverhampton Wanderers had their Portuguese midfield duo to thank for the goals which saw them beat Brentford 2-1 away in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon. João Moutinho scored the opener and Rúben Neves grabbed what proved the winner, with both goals also assisted by Portuguese as Bruno Lage’s men made it four straight wins in all competitions.

After a tight first half, Wolves scored with their first shot on target just a few minutes after the re-start, and it was a goal made in Portugal. Neves found Moutinho, who played a swift one-two with Nélson Semedo before using the outside of his right foot to fire into the corner past helpless Brentford goalkeeper Jonas Lossl.

Ivan Toney levelled with a brilliant volley for the Bees with twenty minutes remaining, and the home side and their fans appeared desperate to push for a winner. However, it would be Wolves to snatch the points thanks to Neves, who received a lay-off from Moutinho before superbly slotting the ball into the bottom corner.

Moutinho spoke to the media after the match, telling reporters: “I think we deserved the win for what we did against a good team. A team who play hard, play physical, but I think we tried to do our job, to have the ball and try to create opportunities, which is what we did. We came here to win and that’s important that we won and we have the three points.

“My goal? I tried to do a combination before with Podence and in the goal I did good combinations with Nélson. He did a good pass and after that I stayed on the box and tried my luck, saw the goalkeeper on one side and tried to put the ball on the other side, but I scored, and I helped the team to win.

“We’re not far away [from the top four] but our target is to play game by game. We know in this league, the best league in the world, every game is difficult. If we are not focused, we can lose some points. But we need to continue with this consistency, because only with this can we achieve something good.”

Wolves are just four points off 4th place Manchester United, having played one game fewer.

João, Carvalho on target in the Championship

Lucas João marked his first start since August with a goal for Reading in their 4-3 home defeat to Huddersfield in the Championship. The former Nacional forward has endured an injury-hit season with the Royals, who have become embroiled in a fight to avoid relegation in his absence.

João, who scored 19 league goals last term, suffered a hip injury at the start of the season which ruled him out until the New Year. Having gradually been reintroduced with a couple of substitute appearances, the 29-year-old started against Huddersfield and scored after just five minutes with a typically cool finish. João stayed on for the full ninety minutes as Reading were beaten in a 7-goal thriller.

Fulham continue to pull away at the top of the division after coming from behind to overcome Stoke City 3-2 away from home. Marco Silva’s side are now eight points clear at the top of the table and once again young Portuguese-born midfielder Fábio Carvalho was among the goalscorers for the free-scoring Cottagers. Carvalho started and finished a move to put his team 2-1 up during the first half.

The rest: Danilo scores from Mbappe brilliance; Mota winner in Italy

Danilo Pereira got himself on the scoresheet in France this weekend in Paris Saint-Germain’s 4-0 triumph over Reims. The goal was made by a piece of brilliant wide-play by Kylian Mbappe, who ultimately squared for the oncoming Danilo to score his second goal of the season for PSG and keep them 11 points clear at the top of Ligue 1.

Portugal U21 international Dany Mota was the match-winner for Monza in Italy’s Serie B this weekend. His was the only goal in the home win over Reggina, and puts Mota on seven league goals for the campaign – more than he scored in the whole of last season. Monza have been impressive at home with eight wins and two draws from their ten matches, helping them occupy a play-off place as things stand.

There was also a winning goal for former Benfica defender Miguel Vítor, who scored the only goal as Hapoel Be’er Sheva won away at Maccabi Petah Tikva in Israel. Finally, ex-Tondela striker Tómané scored the opener as Samsunspor beat Kocaelispor 3-0 in Turkey’s second tier.

By Sean Gillen

@SeanGillen9