Portuguese Abroad goals round-up: André Silva inspires Leipzig comeback; Rony Lopes opens season account; Costa stunner gives Lens win at Marseille; Leão among scorers in Milan rout | OneFootball

André Silva scored his first Bundesliga goal of the season at the weekend to instigate a remarkable comeback by RB Leipzig away at Augsburg. With his side 3-0 down, the Portugal international struck with around twenty minutes remaining as Leipzig recovered to earn a point in a 3-3 draw in Germany.

In Italy, Rafael Leão found himself on the bench for AC Milan, but scored upon his introduction in the champions’ victory over Monza. In France, there was a first goal of the season for Rony Lopes with Troyes, while David Costa also got on the scoresheet to give Lens a surprise win at Marseille and Nélson Oliveira continued his recent recovery from injury by registering for PAOK in Greece.

Silva inspires Leipzig

One of the standout matches from this weekend in Germany was Leipzig’s fightback at Augsburg. The match appeared over as a contest when the hosts went 3-0 up in the 64th minute, but Portugal forward André Silva proved the catalyst for the recovery with a poacher’s goal in the 72nd, following which Christopher Nkunku scored a free-kick and Hugo Novoa scrambled home a late equaliser after Silva’s shot was parried.

Silva has struggled to find consistent form since his move to Leipzig last summer from Eintracht Frankfurt, with last season’s tally of 11 in the Bundesliga a significant drop off from his 28-goal-haul the previous campaign. However, Sunday’s goalscoring contribution should put the former Porto man in line to keep his place against Real Madrid in the Champions League in midweek.

Costa winner sees Lens overcome Marseille

Racing Club Lens moved into 2nd place in Ligue 1 with an impressive 1-0 victory away against Marseille on Saturday. The win came courtesy of a 78th-minute deflected strike from distance by Portuguese winger David Costa, giving the 21-year-old his first goal of the season and Lens a precious away win.

“We played as a team,” Costa told Canal +. “The first half was a little tough but we had a solid game and we were rewarded at the end. In the second half, we felt Marseille got a little tired and the coach was able to give the good advice, which we were able to apply. My goal? At the beginning I see my shot go low, I didn't think it was going to go in. We are rewarded for that, we are 2nd, we have to think now about Toulouse. We have a beautiful collective and we have to continue like this so we keep our form going.”

Leão scores in Milan win

Rafael Leão warmed up for AC Milan’s crucial midweek Champions League trip to Dinamo Zagreb by rounding off the scoring in the Rossoneri’s 4-1 win over Monza at San Siro. Leão was issued a place on the bench by coach Stefano Pioli ahead of travelling to Croatia and Spaniard Brahim Diaz caught the eye with two superb goals as the hosts found themselves 2-0 up when Leão entered on the hour mark.

The former Sporting forward rounded off the scoring with a typically assured finish in the 84th minute. The goal comes amid growing positivity surrounding Leão, who is expected to accelerate talks over a new contract with Milan, who along with Lille are reportedly close to agreeing to pay off the striker’s much-documented €20m debt to Sporting.

Rony Lopes off the mark at Troyes

The career of Rony Lopes is one which has sadly lost momentum during recent years. The Portugal international, who is still just 26, has seen a number of moves fail to produce his best form, as injuries contributed to his struggles at Sevilla, Nice and Olympiacos. However, Lopes appears to have found some form with new club Troyes and this weekend brought his first goal of the campaign.

The midfielder benefited from some slack play in the Lorient defence as Montassar Talbi’s dreadful back-pass into his own penalty area evaded goalkeeper Yvon Mvovo and was intercepted by the lively Lopes, who was left with the simple task of tapping into an unguarded net. The goal put Troyes 2-1 ahead but the visiting side ultimately took a share of the points in a 2-2 draw.

The rest: Nélson Oliveira finding form in Greece

Nélson Oliveira made it two goals in four matches as he continues his return from serious injury with PAOK Thessaloniki in Greece. The ex Benfica striker scored a 97th-minute equaliser for PAOK in their 2-2 draw with Asteras Tripolis on Sunday evening, earning what looked an unlikely point when the hosts trailed by two goals heading into the final ten minutes.

Pedro Eugénio strengthened his status as the leading goalscorer in the Kazakhstani Premier League with a hat-trick in Astana’s 5-1 win over Atyrau. The Paixão twins, Marco and Flavio, continue to defy age as the 38-year-olds both struck this weekend in Turkey and Poland respectively. Marco Paixão’s equaliser earned Altay a 1-1 draw against Erzurumspor in the Turkish 1 Lig, while Flavio Paixão opened the scoring as Lechia Gdansk won 3-0 at Zaglebie Lubin in the Polish Ekstraklasa.

In the Italian second tier, there was a goal for ex Nacional and Rio Ave attacker Pedro Mendes to give Ascoli a 2-1 win over Cagliari. Ruben Rodrigues scored as English National League leaders Notts County ran out 3-0 winners over Maidstone United. Finally, former Estoril midfielder Douglas Aurélio made it three matches in a row with a goal in Riga’s 2-0 win at Metta in Latvia, while Luís Machado’s goal helped Radomiak Radom to a 2-1 win at Piast Gliwice in Poland and Gonçalo Paulino got a last-minute equaliser for UE St Coloma in a 1-1 draw with Engordany in Andorra.