FC Porto is the lone leader of Liga NOS, after beating Sporting de Braga (1-0), at Estádio do Dragão, for matchday 10 of the competition. A great header from Soares, on minute 88, gave the victory to the Dragons, who now have 24 points, three more than Braga.

The match between leaders started with FC Porto wanting to take control, but Sporting de Braga was able to shake the blue and white pressure as the match went on and balance the duel. Even with the lead of the championship on the balance, neither team let go of their signature attacking mentality, and the first 45 minutes had dangerous plays on both ends of the pitch. On the opponent’s end, Tiago Sá stopped the shots of Maxi (21m) and Brahimi (38m), and, in the case of the Algerian, the goal seemed certain.

On the home team’s end, Casillas also gave a good response when needed, preventing Paulinho (18m) and Ricardo Esgaio (41m) from celebrating. In a first-half where the defenders were able to outmatch the attackers, the 0-0 tie showed just that. The second-half was almost a copy of the first, with the (big) difference that FC Porto scored, but, before that, the national champions watched as Braga hit the posts twice, first by Ricardo Esgaio (55m) and then by Fransérgio (77m).

But, as football has shown time and time again, those who failed to score, risk conceding. The final moments had a lot of pressure from FC Porto, and, 88 minutes in, Estádio do Dragão finally jumped in excitement: Otávio crossed to the area and Soares jumped above the central defenders, viciously heading the ball at the back of the net, not giving any chances to Tiago Sá. FC Porto had the fair reward for taking more chances in a time when Sporting de Braga was already celebrating the tie and were the first team to beat Braga in the championship. The champion is alone in the place they know best.