THE Tondela and Felgueiras met this Sunday afternoon for a duel counting for the ninth round of the II League, at Estádio João Cardoso, with the victory smiling at the home team, in a crazy ending to a game with five goals, with a final result of 3-2.
The match began to smile on the visitors, who reached the goal first through a beautiful finish from Lucas Duarte, in the 20th minute, as he stretched to reach the ball and put it into the goal defended by Carlão.
But the answer came a few minutes later, when veteran striker Tomané, aged 34, scored the equalizer to balance the score of the game, through the penalty spot, deceiving goalkeeper Mateus Pasinato.
But the excitement of this first half was not to stop there, as it took until 45+5 minutes of the match for us to see one of the teams at a disadvantage again, with a somersault on the scoreboard being completed by Hugo Félix’s right foot, with a strong shot from inside the penalty area.
The restart after a trip to the locker room was quick and effective for Felgueiras, who again moved the opponent’s net eight minutes into the second half, after João Pinto feinted offside – with the move being under analysis for almost five minutes and being validated with a margin of zero (yes, you read that right) centimeters – and shot to make the match 2-2.
Still, it was the veteran Tomané who saved Tondela to win the three points, with a cross in the 88th minute finding the head of the striker, who gave Pasinato no chance, given calls for a penalty on the other side of the field, which were not confirmed by the VAR.
With this result, Tondela joins the ‘train’ of teams that are in the fight for promotion, now adding 15 points in nine games played, while Felgueiras remains in the relegation zone with seven points in the II League.
The results (and accounts) of the ninth round of the II League
At the opening of this day there were victories for Amarante (over FC Porto B, 2-1), Sporting B (over Leixões, 1-2), Benfica B (over Desportivo de Chaves, 3-1) and União de Leiria (over AVS, 2-1), as well as a goalless draw between Portimonense and Torreense, before Vizela won the three points against Académica, after a victory by 2-1.
Also this Sunday, the Lusitânia de Lourosa-Farense will take place at 3:30 pm (Mainland Portugal time). However, the curtain will only fall on this round, on Monday, at 6pm, at the Estádio Municipal 25 de Abril, which will host the clash between Penafiel and Feirense.
All things considered, with this set of results, Académica, which remains with 15 points, ‘falls’ to fifth place in the II League, behind Sporting B (which has 21), Lusitânia de Lourosa (which has 18 and one less game played), Benfica B (which has 17) and Penafiel (which has 16, but also has yet to enter the scene).
Right behind, there are Farense (also with one less match played), União de Leiria and, precisely, Vizela, all with 14 points in the ‘baggage’.
