Portugal: Leader Porto trounces Leixoes

LISBON, Portugal (AP) -Lucho Gonzalez's penalty launched leader FC Porto to a 4-1 victory at Leixoes and boosted its hopes of a fourth straight Portuguese league title on Saturday.

Givanildo "Hulk'' Vieira, Raul Meireles and Ernesto Farias all added goals after halftime to help extend Porto's unbeaten league run to 14 games.

Porto was now four points clear, although its lead will be cut to two points on Sunday if Benfica beats Naval for its first away win for three months.

Sporting leapfrogged its Lisbon rival Benfica into second place with a 2-0 win over Pacos Ferreira, courtesy of first-half goals from Liedson and Derlei.

Porto leads with 45 points, while Sporting has 41. Benfica has 40. Leixoes stayed with 35 points, level with Nacional and Braga.

Gonzalez opened the scoring in the 23rd minute of Porto's 13th win of the season by calmly converting his spot kick, awarded after Leixoes midfielder Hugo Morais handled.

Hulk notched his eighth goal of the season in the 50th after taking the ball into the area and firing home, with Meireles shooting the visitors' third from Farias' pass 16 minutes later.

Farias headed the fourth goal from Mariano's corner in the 76th, with Diogo Valente scoring Leixoes' consolation goal just before the final whistle.

Porto's win boosted morale ahead of Wednesday's second leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Atletico Madrid. The teams drew 2-2 in Spain.

Leixoes, the surprise package which led the league earlier, hadn't lost at home since the opening game of the season. However, it will drop to sixth place if Nacional and Braga draw their next games. Nacional visits lowly Setubal on Monday, while Braga plays at Amadora on Sunday.

Sporting's win came three days ahead of what appears to be a hopeless task in the Champions League second round at Bayern Munich in which it trails 5-0 from the first leg.

Liedson scored from Derlei's pass in the eighth minute, with Derlei adding a second with a header in the 34th.

Also on Sunday, it's Academica vs. Trofense; and Guimaraes vs. Belenenses.

On Friday, Rio Ave drew 1-1 with Maritimo.

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