Tondela secured a 2:1 home victory over Amarante in the opening round of Liga Portugal 2 on Saturday evening. The result moves both sides up in the table, with the hosts climbing to 12th place on six points while Amarante remain 15th with four.
And here's the thing about the first half — it opened at a frantic pace. M. Costa gave Tondela the lead in the 18th minute, and Cascavel answered almost immediately with a goal of his own for Amarante in the 21st. The visitors held a narrow advantage until Joao Lima converted a penalty in the 45th minute plus one, ending a barren spell for his side and restoring their lead at the break.
To be fair, Amarante controlled more of the ball, holding 51 per cent possession compared to the hosts' 49. But control did not translate into chances. The visitors managed four shots on target and four off target, yet they could not find the net again. Tondela, by then, had been more clinical with two shots on target and one off target.
The second half saw a series of changes on both benches. H. Tavares came on for Tondela in the 56th minute, followed by Nito in the 69th. Amarante brought on E. Maviram in the 79th, while the hosts made three more substitutions in stoppage time, including H. Felix in the 92nd minute. The game tightened up as the clock ran down, with yellow cards coming at both ends — six for Tondela and three for Amarante across the full match.
What this result tells us is that the table goes out of the window in these games. Both sides have played five matches and sit in the lower half, but the gap between them is only two points. Tondela move into a slightly more comfortable position, while Amarante now need to find a way back into their campaign.