Estoril march on as João Carvalho special sinks Vitória | OneFootball

Estoril 1-0 Vitória SC

Happy days in Estoril! On a rainswept Sunday afternoon the Canarinhos chalked up third successive win and condemned Vitória to an eighth winless game.

In-form midfielder João Carvalho scored the all-important goal early in the second half with a superb individual effort, but it was a deserved victory for Ian Cathro’s men who move up to 8th place in the standings, just two points behind today’s adversaries.

Tom Kundert reports from the Estádio António Coimbra da Mota.

Cathro making waves

Scottish coach Ian Cathro had said in a recent interview with A Bola that he wanted to eradicate the word “manutenção” (survival) from Estoril’s vocabulary. In the pre-match press conference I asked him if he could replace it with the word “Europe”.

“We have to take things one thing at a time. We are working hard to change the mentality. I don’t want Estoril to start each season with the goal of manutenção. But it will take time and hard work to throw away the dictionary with that word, and go and buy another dictionary with European qualification in it.”

Home side dominate first half

Estoril had the better of the first half, some excellent one-touch combinations creating openings, with livewire Wagner Pina proving a constant source of danger for the visitors’ defence.

An early cross-shot by Moroccan forward Yanis Begraoui dribbled across the goal-line and capriciously stayed out of the net.

Vitória spurned a good chance to score in the 18th minute, as a strong run and excellent low cut-back by João Mendes set up Telma Arcanjo on the edge of the box, but the forward planted his shot wide of the target.

Play switched to the other side of the pitch and Xeka was next to try his luck, his shot from long range well saved by Vitória goalkeeper Bruno Varela.

Varela denies Pina

A beautifully worked counter-attack by the hosts ended with João Carvalho setting up a chance for Pina, but one-on-one with Varela, the goalkeeper won the day.

Pedro Álavro then thumped a header from a corner wide, but you felt a goal for Estoril was surely coming.

At last the hosts put the ball in the net in the 42nd minute, Berrauoui finishing smartly after a wonderful João Carvalho throughball, but after a long VAR check the goal was ruled out for a marginal offside.

Just before half time Vitória almost grabbed what would have been a thoroughly undeserved lead, Telmo Arcanjo forcing Estoril goalkeeper Joel Robles into an excellent save.

Carvalho scores a beauty

The second half started with a bang as Carvalho showed twinkling footwork to dance his way through the Vitória defence and beat Varela with a neat right-foot finish.

The game changed complexion from then onwards as Estoril focused on preserving their lead, but Vitória, although dominating possession, failed to seriously trouble Robles.

Vitória substitute Nélson Oliveira shot wide when well placed, and had the ball in the net late on, but he had scored from an offside position.

For Estoril, substitute Alejandro Marques sent in two dangerous shots from distance but both were wide of the target.

Referee ignores VAR

There was a nervous moment in stoppage time for Estoril as VAR invited the referee to look at a possible penalty on the pitch-side monitor, but Luís Godinho decided Pedro Amaral’s touch occurred from his arm in a natural position and waved play on.

Soon afterwards the full-time whistle went to the delight of the home supporters. With Estoril in the upper half of the table and in great form in recent months, perhaps that alteration in the club’s vocabulary will take place sooner rather than later.