Saint-Gilloise 3-3 Sporting Braga: Honours even in six-goal thriller
Saint-Gilloise were helde ach other to a 3-3 draw by Sporting Braga on Thursday at King Power At den Dreef Stadion. Saint-Gilloise were looking to continue their good run after winning their previous two games against Sporting Braga away and Malmö at home, by 2-1 and 3-2 respectively. Sporting Braga had lost their previous match against Union Saint-Gilloise. Saint-Gilloise are currently 1st with 10 points from 4 matches, while Sporting Braga sit in 2nd, with 7 points from 4.
Sporting Braga started strongly in the first half, thanks to a goal from Vítor Carvalho, 15 minutes in. However, the good fortune didn’t last for long. An equalizer from Victor Boniface, 20 minutes in brought Belgian level. However, each side looked hungry to win and Sporting Braga then found the back of the net in the 36th minute thanks to Vítor Carvalho, taking the score to 2-1. They then scored again, pulling level thanks to a hat trick effort from Vítor Carvalho just before half-time and the first half ended 3-1.
Saint-Gilloise started the second half with renewed vigour, with an early goal from Dante Vanzeir in the 49th minute. Saint-Gilloise then netted once more and equalised thanks to a second effort from Victor Boniface, 62 minutes in to make it 3-3.
Substitutions for Saint-Gilloise included Loic Lapoussin, Cameron Puertas Castro, Gustaf Nilsson, Ross Sykes and Oussama El Azzouzi for Christian Burgess, Jean Thierry Lazare Amani, Dante Vanzeir, Bart Nieuwkoop and Victor Boniface, respectively. Sporting Braga replaced Fabiano, Andre Horta, Rodrigo Gomes, Sikou Niakate and Abel Ruiz for Victor Gomez, Uros Racic, Iuri Medeiros, Paulo Oliveira and Simon Banza.
There were bookings for Jean Thierry Lazare Amani and Senne Lynen from Saint-Gilloise. For Sporting Braga, Fabiano and Sikou Niakate saw yellow.
Sporting Braga and Saint-Gilloise will next play away to Union Berlin and Malmö respectively.
| Technical card: | |
|---|---|
| Union Saint-Gilloise: | Anthony Moris, Bart Nieuwkoop (Ross Sykes, min.90), Christian Burgess (Loic Lapoussin, min.46), Ismael Kandouss, Siebe Van Der Heyden, Simon Adingra, Jean Thierry Lazare Amani (Cameron Puertas Castro, min.64), Senne Lynen, Victor Boniface (Oussama El Azzouzi, min.90), Teddy Teuma and Dante Vanzeir (Gustaf Nilsson, min.82) |
| Sporting Braga: | Matheus Magalhaes, Fabiano (Victor Gomez, min.46), Vitor Tormena, Sikou Niakate (Paulo Oliveira, min.76), Nuno Sequeira, Ricardo Horta, Al Musrati, Andre Horta (Uros Racic, min.69), Rodrigo Gomes (Iuri Medeiros, min.69), Vítor Carvalho and Abel Ruiz (Simon Banza, min.90) |
| Stadium: | King Power At den Dreef Stadion |
| Goals: | Vítor Carvalho (0-1, min. 15), Victor Boniface (1-1, min. 20), Vítor Carvalho (1-2, min. 36), Vítor Carvalho (1-3, min. 41), Dante Vanzeir (2-3, min. 49) and Victor Boniface (3-3, min. 62) |
