Mafra booked their place in the next round of the Portuguese Cup after edging Atlético Malveira 3-2 in the 128th round of the competition on Friday evening. The visitors came from behind twice to seal victory in what was a chaotic contest at the Malveira ground.
Malveira struck first through their opener in the 18th minute, but Mafra responded before half-time with an equaliser in the 39th minute. The hosts had been ahead for a while, but the visitors levelled to set up a tense second half.
And here's the thing about the second period — it didn't stay calm for long. Mafra took the lead in the 60th minute, but within the same minute Malveira were reduced to ten men with a red card. By then, Mafra had also lost a player of their own in the 63rd minute, so both sides were down to ten.
Malveira pulled one back in the 70th minute with ten men, but Mafra held firm and added a third goal to put the game to bed early. The visitors felt the pressure with two players sent off, but they managed to see out the result despite the numerical disadvantage.
Mafra dominated possession at 0.62 and registered 185 attacks compared to Malveira's 114. The hosts managed only three corners while the visitors claimed six. Both sides received one red card each, with Malveira showing five yellows and Mafra seven.
Mafra's recent form has been mixed — they lost their last meeting against Lusitano Évora 1911 2-1, drew with Atlético Porto 1-1, and won comfortably against Vitória de Sername 5-0. Malveira's run includes a heavy 5-0 defeat to União de Leiria and a 6-0 victory over Urzelense.