Suspension ends Arsenal loanee’s run of goal contributions | OneFootball

FC Porto lost to Braga without Arsenal loanee Fabio Vieira at the weekend, and their trophy chances are increasingly hanging by a thread.

Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images

Arsenal loanee Fabio Vieira has been a key player for FC Porto recently, providing a goal contribution in each of their four games leading up to Saturday’s match against SC Braga.

Yet Vieira didn’t have the chance to keep that form going at the weekend, as he was serving a suspension.

After scoring against Arouca in Porto’s previous game, the midfielder picked up a yellow card for a foul, his fifth of the season. As a result, he served a one-match ban during the Braga fixture.

Photo by Diogo Cardoso/Getty Images

Vieira’s importance was underlined by Porto’s performance, with the team losing 1-0 without him. The team only had seven shots all game, their lowest total in a league fixture since October 6th, 2024.

Porto are now well off the pace in the Liga Portugal, sitting nine points off league leaders Sporting, with Benfica also six points ahead with a game in hand.

The team will now be looking backwards as well as forwards, with Braga catching up to Porto’s points total. Vieira’s side have a goal difference lead of 10 (+29 vs +19), but any further dropped points will give Braga the chance to enter the top three.

Photo via Porto on Twitter

Porto have already been eliminated from the domestic cups and the Europa League, so the only things they still have to play for are league position and European qualification.

Only the top two in Portugal have the chance to qualify for the Champions League, and only third place can qualify for the Europa League. Should Porto drop to fourth, they’d be playing Europa Conference League qualifiers this summer.