Braga beat Lincoln Red Imps 5-1 to ease into the Europa League | OneFootball

Braga booked their spot in the Europa League following a comprehensive 5-1 win against Lincoln Red Imps at the Quarry.

Leading 4-0 after the first leg victory in the Algarve, it was one way traffic in northern Portugal where Vitor Carvalho opened the scoring early on and Gabri Martínez bagged a brace before the break.

Amine El Ouazzani and Sandro Vidigal hit the woodwork as the dominance continued in the second half, Vidigal doing it all himself to make it 4-0 in the 77th minute. Pau Victor added a fifth before Red Imps striker Kike Gómez scored a late consolation.

Braga 5-1 Lincoln Red Imps

Gabri Martínez tested Nauzet García early on but it was only a matter of time before Braga took the lead. That moment came in the 12th minute when Mario Dorgeles’ corner was headed home by Vitor Carvalho.

Dorgeles picked up an injury and was replaced by Ismaël Gharbi as the chances kept coming. Gabri got to the byline and saw his shot blocked, the Spaniards' persistence paying off in the 41th minute when he collected a pass from Sandro Vidigal, strolled past Ibrahim Ayew and found the net.

Gabr scored again in added time when he took advantage of a huge hole in Lincoln’s defence, raced onto Gharbi’s through ball, rounded García and fired into an empty net.

Carlos Vicens made two changes at half-time, bringing on Nuno Matos and Amine El Ouazzani for Robson Bambu and Fran Navarro. El Ouazzani hit the post within three minutes of being introduced and Vidigal slalomed his way past four defenders before hitting the post.

Alaa Bellaarouch was called into action for the first time in the 64th minute when he got down to save an effort from Tjay de Barr.

Pau Victor replaced Gabri before El Ouazzani tested García with a fierce strike, Matos then finding himself in the box where he headed Victor’s cross wide. The chances kept coming, Vidigal making it 4-0 in the 77th minute when he got past Christian Rutjens with surprising ease, drove into the box and beat García.

Vidigal immediately made way for João Marques and he didn’t have to wait long to get involved. Braga took a free kick which saw Gharbi find Marques in space, he lost his footing but did enough to get the ball to Victor who found the bottom corner.

Marques saw his shot blocked and Yanis da Rocha was denied by García as Braga pressed for a sixth goal. It wasn't to be, the final goal of the contest coming at the other end where Tjay de Barr picked out Kike Gómez, the striker turning Matos inside and out before firing past Bellaarouch.

Job done

There was only going to be one winner at the Quarry, the margin of victory the only question to be answered. Braga capitalised on a fantastic draw in the qualifiers, leaving it late to get past Levski Sofia before easing past CFR Cluj and dominating the hopelessly outclassed club from Gibraltar.

Carlos Vicens used the second leg to hand starts to Alaa Bellaarouch, Yanis da Rocha, Robson Bambu, Gabriel Moscardo, Sandro Vidigal and Gabri Martínez with Nuno Matos, Ismaël Gharbi and João Marques coming off the bench.

With qualification assured, the Warriors will celebrate before focusing on the Primeira Liga where they have to improve in defence. Their next assignment comes on Sunday, a short trip to Vila do Conde where they face a tricky Rio Ave side.