A 93rd-minute goal from Chuli has earned Real Betis a crucial 1-0 victory over Vitoria de Guimaraes in the Europa League.
After an uneventful 90 minutes, it appeared as though the match would end goalless, with both sides remaining in contention for qualification.
However, Chuli poked home from 12 yards deep into added-on time to earn the visitors the win, and take them two points clear at the top of Group I.
Read below to see how the action unfolded in Portugal.
Hello, and welcome to Sports Mole's coverage of the match in the Europa League between Vitoria de Guimaraes and Real Betis.
After Betis edged out Vitoria in Spain two weeks ago, the Portuguese side will be keen to return to winning ways in Europe after they had started the campaign with four points from two matches. Their defeat in Spain saw them fall from first to third, but victory tonight will see them move back into the top two.
The team news is in from Portugal. If you bare with me for just a few minutes, I will bring you the details.
VITORIA DE GUIMARAES XI: Douglas, Oliveira, Correia, Addy, Ba, Barrientos, Andre Andre, Olimpio, Santos, Plange, Maazou
REAL BETIS XI: Andersen, Juanfran, Jordi, Caro, Xavi Torres, Vadillo, Nono, Verdu, Juan Carlos, Nacho, Rodriguez
Both teams have been in mixed form domestically since they went head-to-head two weeks ago. Vitoria have won one and lost one on the road in Portugal, while Betis have conceded eight goals on their travels to Atletico Madrid and Malaga respectively. I'm sure that record will give the home side plenty of encouragement to press forward tonight.
Interestingly, and rather surprisingly at the same time, Vitoria have lost their last seven fixtures against Spanish opposition. They will be hoping to improve that statistic tonight.
The other game in this group sees Lyon travel to Croatia to play Rijeka. The Ligue 1 club aren't the side that they use to be, but that still represents a great opportunity to move close to qualification for the knockout stages.
PREDICTION! After the first fixture brought little in the way of goalmouth action, I can't see there being many goals in this...but I hope that I'm wrong, of course. Vitoria ended the game in Spain in the ascendancy, and if they can start brightly here, they should have too much for Betis. 2-0 to Vitoria.
There's less than 10 minutes to go until kickoff at the Estadio D. Afonso Henriques.
The action has just got underway in Portugal.
Vitoria are already taking the long-ball approach to Maazou, but he has given away a couple of fouls.
Vitoria have won a free kick on the right-hand side, which has resulted in the first corner of the match. Maazou won the header, but it went harmlessly wide.
Betis finally get hold of possession, which is instantly greeted by whistles from the home crowd. The visitors almost created an opening, but the cross was deflected into the hands of Douglas.
Betis are actually looking quite threatening now. All of their play is coming down the left-hand side, and they win a corner. However, it is curled straight out and Betis have a goal kick.
Andre Santos tries his luck from 25 yards for Vitoria, but he dragged his shot just wide. It was lacking in power too, so Andersen had it covered.
Both teams look pacey on the break, but when they get to around 30 yards out, they seem to get in a muddle and the move comes to an end. There has been a goal in the other game in this group - Lyon have taken the lead against Rijeka.
BOOKING! Barrientos has gone into the book for Vitoria. Not too sure what for though.
I was hoping that we would get a bit more goalmouth action that we did 14 days ago, but it's been exactly the same. I suppose both teams do look a bit livelier though. Rijeka have equalised against Lyon.
SHOT! Andre Santos attempts a shot from more than 30 yards out, which Andersen is forced to tip over. It didn't look like the shot was going to dip under the crossbar though. The corner was delivered in to Maazou, but like earlier in the match, his header drifted wide.
I'm saying that this match has been disappointing, but there has already been eight corners, the latest of which was brought up from Douglas tipping over from Juanfran.
Mazoou looks a huge physical presence, but his footwork doesn't look the best. He breaks forward towards the Betis defence, but he drives his shot yards over the crossbar.
Douglas retrieves the ball on the byline, but the assistant decides that the ball has gone out of play for a corner. Looked a bit harsh to me, but still, the set piece came to nothing.
Pressure from Vitoria, and a ball into the middle is well cleared by the defence. Maazou was waiting to pounce in the six-yard area if that intervention hadn't of been made.
There's less than five minutes to go until the break, and I think both teams need it to come up with a plan B. Each attackis being nullified comfortably at the moment.
David Sddy pings in a teasing delivery to the back post, but after Maazou can't reach the ball, Plange failed in his attempts to volley the ball back across goal.
HALF TIME: Vitoria de Guimaraes 0-0 Real Betis
The referee has blown the half-time whistle, and we are goalless at the break, which comes as no surprise to anyone. The fact that nothing happen in that half is demonstrated by the referee adding nothing on at the end of the half.
Moussa Maazou has looked the biggest threat for Vitoria,but he doesn't appear to have that killer instinct in front of goal tonight. The 25-year-old is a Niger interational, and he has netted seven goals in 30 appearances for his country...incase you were interested.
The half-time whistle has also gone in Croatia, and the score remains 1-1 between Rijeka and Lyon. You'd fancy Lyon to press on for a winner, and if they do and the score remains the same here, then the French side will have control of the group.
The two teams are making their way out back onto the pitch.
Betis get us back underway.
What is Nono thinking? He doesn't have anything on, but he tries an audacious shot from around 40 yards. As you can guess, the ball went wide.
Vadillo does well down the right for Betis, but his ball into the middle is headed out by Ba. The visitors retrieve the ball, but the second cross floats over everyone and goes out for a throw-in.
Plange claims for a penalty after being hustled off the ball by Caro, but that was a pretty desperate appeal.
SUBSTITUTION! Vitoria make their first change of the evening, replacing Andre Santos with Tiago Rodrigues. Rodrigues started in the last game and looked half-decent, so maybe he can improve the standard of this match.
Barrientos is the next Vitoria man to try his luck from distance, but like the rest, it's threatening the corner flag more than the goal.
BOOKING! Andre Andre has gone into the book for a scything challenge on Molina.
Vitoria put together a free-flowing move, but they fall at the last hurdle. Maazou or Andre Andre could have applied the final touches, but the situation passed them by.
SAVE! Molina should have put Betis ahead. The substitute broke clear down the right-hand side, but despite getting behind the defence, he couldn't force the ball past Douglas, who tipped the ball wide.
From the resulting corner, Caro rose highest at the back post, but his header went wide of the far post. He will be disappointed with that.
Betis look a much better side since the arrival of Molina. The veteran looks ready to slot home, but the Vitoria defence got back in double-quick time.
CHANCE! Barrientos curls a ball into the box that is almost impossible to defend, but it's that good that it evades everyone on the edge of the six-yard box. Maazou only had to stretch a little bit more and it would have been 1-0.
There's just 10 minutes remaining in Portugal. This is about as good as the action has got, but you still wouldn't predict a goal. But, you never know...
Fantastic challenge! Vadillo and Molina combined for Betis, but just as Molina was winding up to get his shot away, Oliveira slid in to deny the Spaniard an opportunity.
Vitoria and Betis are both trying to deliver their crosses earlier, but they are being easily repelled by the respective defences. Two minutes to go.
There will be three minutes of added-on time.
Late free kick for Betis. What can they do with it?
The answer to that is nothing. The ball is comfortably claimed by Douglas.
GOAL! Vitoria de Guimaraes 0-1 Real Betis (Chuli)
UNBELIEVABLE! Literally seconds before the three minutes of added-on time were up, Betis have stolen it. The ball was played behind the defence for Chuli to slide home from 12 yards. The ball trickled past Douglas, but it just had the legs to hit the back of the net.
FULL TIME: Vitoria de Guimaraes 0-1 Real Betis
That's incredibly harsh on Vitoria. Neither side deserved to lose, but neither side deserved to win either. That last-minute effort has huge ramifications for the group.
With Lyon drawing in Croatia, Real Betis have stormed clear at the top of the group, and they will require just one more victory to seal their place in the knockout stages. Despite the defeat, Vitoria can still qualify, but they realistically need a couple of wins from their remaining matches.
That will be all from Sports Mole for this match. It wasn't the best of games, but at least it got a dramatic ending! Goodbye for now.
Written by
Darren Plant
Darren Plant
