Sporting falls further off the pace

Lisbon, Portugal – Sporting Lisbon slipped 15 points back of 0 loss at Gil Vicente on Monday.

Sporting fell behind after 13 minutes to a goal from Rodrigo Galo, while Claudio doubled the advantage for the hosts from the penalty spot 10 minutes after the break.

Stijn Schaars made things worse for Sporting when he was sent off 20 minutes from time, leaving the visitors no way back into the match.

FC Porto maintained its slim lead at the top over Benfica and Braga by securing a 2-0 win at Nacional.

Marc Janko scored midway through the first half but it wasn't until deep into stoppage time that the second goal arrived courtesy of Alex Sandro.

Benfica kept the pressure on the defending champions by beating Beira Mar, 3-1, on Friday with two goals from Oscar Cardozo, while Braga also collected three points on Saturday by toppling Feirense, 4-1, with both clubs remaining one point behind Porto.

Uniao Leiria moved off the bottom of the league by claiming a 1-0 win over Rio Ave with Bruno Moraes providing the lone goal in the second half, while Maritimo and Setubal played to a 1-1 draw, Olhanense scored two goals in the second half to rally for a 2-2 draw at Guimaraes and Pacos Ferreira used a fifth-minute goal from Jose Hernandez to defeat Academica, 1-0.