Auri Green Door: Hope Painted in Vibrant Hues

There were still fans taking their seats in the stands of the Tondela amphitheater and Alverca’s supporters now had reason to celebrate. After just 4 minutes, Nabili Touaizi crossed with precision, weight and measure, from the right side, and Marezi had a goal written on his forehead.

The early goal helped to unlock the game and the first half (just as the second would have been) was quite interesting. And in the immediate response, Cícero only drew with André Gomes, he was huge (7′).

The two contenders presented different game ideas — Tondela, in 4x2x3x1, favoring possession and more elaborate attacks (although not always with due objectivity in the last third), Alverca, in 3x4x3, excelling in defensive rigor and never neglecting quick transitions —, something that offered remarkable quality condiments to the confrontation.

And if André Gomes had denied the home team a draw, Bernardo Fontes prevented the visitors from increasing their advantage: the Brazilian stopped attacks from Nabili Touaizi (15′) and Marezi (28′).

Until the break, also note the shot by Pedro Maranhão (38′), which went wide of the right post, and the glove warmer that Rodrigo Conceição offered to the young goalkeeper who is at Ribatejo on loan from Benfica (45+7′).

The complementary stage did not disappoint expectations and continued to be highly intense, sometimes with stop and response. We cannot talk about a great spectacle, but we must, in line with the truth, praise the commitment and determination of the artists, who never allowed sleep to come to the fore in a duel that in the middle of winter kicked off at 8:45 pm…

Juan Rodríguez and Makan Aiko tried to give substance to the Tondelense revolt, but it was on the other side that the net was truly close to (returning to) swinging: Chiquinho left Christian Marques behind and shot hard, with his left foot, making the ball come off the left post (62′).

In addition to not being able to double their lead at that moment, Alverca became even worse just five minutes later, when Bastien Meupiyou received a second yellow card and left his team reduced to 10 men.

Tondela pressed incessantly in search of happiness, they had several situations to score, but the only one to hit the target was debutant João Silva: a clear header from the central defender after an assist from Brayan Medina, following a corner from Hugo Félix.

Red painted (part of) the door of hope in… (auri)green.

Notes from Tondela players:

Bernardo Fontes (6), Bebeto (5), Christian Marques (5), Brayan Medina (7), Rodrigo Conceição (6), Yaya Sithole (5), Cícero (6), Pedro Maranhão (6), Joe Hodge (5), Makan Aiko (5), Benjamin Kimpioka (5), Juan Rodríguez (5), Hugo Félix (6), João Silva (7), Arjen van der Heide (5) and Tiago Manso (-).

Notes from Alverca players:

André Gomes (6), Kaiky Naves (5), Sergi Gómez (5), Bastien Meupiyou (4), Nabili Touaizi (6), Rhaldney (5), Vasco Moreira (6), Francisco Chissumba (5), Figueiredo (5), Marezi (6), Chiquinho (6), Davy Gui (5), Mathis Clairicia (5), Julián Martínez (5), Steven Baseya (-) and Cedric Nuozzi (-).