Rio Ave FC secured an important 2–0 victory away to CD Santa Clara on Matchday 29 of the Primeira Liga, capitalising on a strong second-half display in Ponta Delgada.
After a goalless opening 45 minutes, the visitors found the breakthrough five minutes after the restart. In the 50th minute, Tamás Nikitscher put Rio Ave ahead, finishing off a move created by Marious Vrousai to make it 1–0 and tilt the contest in the away side’s favour.
Santa Clara’s hopes of a response suffered a major setback just after the hour. In the 61st minute, defender Sidney Lima diverted the ball into his own net, doubling Rio Ave’s lead to 2–0 and giving the visitors a cushion to manage the remainder of the game.
The first half had been largely controlled and disciplined, with the main flashpoint a yellow card for Rio Ave’s Jakub Brabec in the 39th minute. As the tempo increased after the interval, further bookings followed: Gustavo (63′) and goalscorer Nikitscher (70′) were cautioned for Rio Ave, while Gabriel Silva (75′) and Henrique Silva (87′) went into the referee’s book for Santa Clara.
Both coaches turned to their benches in search of fresh energy. Santa Clara made early changes at half-time and on 57 minutes, introducing Vinícius, Gonçalo Paciência and Brenner, and later Diogo Calila and José Tavares. Rio Ave responded with a series of late substitutions, bringing on Ryan Guilherme, Francisco Petrasso, Antonis Papakanellos, Georgios Liavas and Joao Tome to see out the result.
Beyond the goals, cards and substitutions, detailed match statistics and further in-game events were not available at the time of writing.
For more on the Primeira Liga and this fixture, visit the full match page on Ballaxy and the league hub at the Primeira Liga section.
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