The Ball – Alverca wins in Leiria and reduces the distance to the lead (Liga 3)

Alverca beat UD Leiria, 2-1, in a match referring to the 13th round of Série B of Liga 3, which took place on Sunday night, at the Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, in Leiria.

Ribatejo’s team took the lead in the 36th minute, through Mohsen Hassan, who made a header the best follow-up to a pass (also with a header) from Evandro Brandao.

The scenario became more complicated for the home team already in first-half injury time, when Valdir brought down Ruben Pena, inside the area, and was sent off. In converting the penalty kick, Marcos Silva (precisely last season he represented the Leirienses) beat Carlos Alves and increased the outsiders’ advantage.

The complementary stage was qualitatively more balanced, with Marcos Silva’s ejection (61 min) giving UD Leiria some oxygen. The unionists tried in various ways to minimize the damage, but only Felipe Almeida, in the 81st minute, had a header to match Jordan van der Gaag’s corner and cut the distance.

Even with some dangerous cross-goal runs in the final moments, the truth is that Vasco Botelho da Costa’s men were unable to break through the opposition net again, resulting in an important victory for Rebatejo’s side.

With this victory, Alverca now has 23 points and shortens the distances between the two rivals still ahead: UD Leiria (26 points) and Amora (24 points).

In the next round, UD Leiria will travel to Coimbra to face Académica, in a long-awaited derby in the center of the country, scheduled for 19:00 next Sunday. And Alverca will receive Sporting B, which is the match that will take place next Sunday, but at five in the evening.