Etienne Gagnon: Zil Viseu and Maritimo share the points in a tight affair
Zil Viseu and Maritimo played out a 1-1 draw in the Portuguese first division on Saturday at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos. The result keeps both sides level on seven points and leaves Zil Viseu in ninth while Maritimu sit tenth after six matches.
Murilo Souza put the hosts ahead in the seventh minute and the lead lasted until the dying moments of the game. Israel Isaac Ayuma equalised for Maritimu in the 90th minute plus three, after a long afternoon of substitutions and yellow cards.
Vladan Danilović was withdrawn for Maritimu just before the break, while Santiago García González and Rodri Andrade both picked up yellow cards in the second half. The hosts made a flurry of changes around the hour mark, bringing on Adrián Butzke and Maxime Dominguez, and later replaced Hector Hernandez, Martín Tejón and Murilo Souza himself.
Zil Viseu dominated possession with 60 per cent and took 15 shots compared to Maritimu's nine, yet the visitors managed to create the same number of big chances. The hosts registered 1.2 expected goals while the visitors managed 0.86, but the statistics tell only part of the story — Zil Viseu spent time camped in the final third without finding a killer pass, and Maritimu closed the game out when it mattered.
A week earlier I had backed the hosts to win at 92 per cent confidence, but the match refused to follow that script. Ayuma's late strike broke a run of clean sheets for the home keeper and meant Zil Viseu's dominance produced nothing more than a point.
Both teams remain mid-table and neither side can afford many more dropped points. The draw extends Zil Viseu's recent pattern of draws and narrow defeats — they have now lost three of their last five league games — while Maritimu's away form continues to look fragile.
