The nine first round matches of the 2023/24 edition of the First Football League totaled 130 minutes of compensation, an average of 14.4 minutes per match, given the International Board’s (IFAB) intention to increase the useful time of extend the game.
According to the information on the official website of the Portuguese Professional Football League (LPFP) on the Internet, Rio Ave’s victory at the reception over Desportivo de Chaves (2-0) on Sunday set the record of ‘discounts’ of the round , while it lasted 109 minutes.
Referee Ricardo Baixinho, of the Lisbon Association, conceded an extra 19 minutes to the regular 90 – seven in the first half, in which Flaviense Habib Sylla was sent off with a double yellow card in a row, and twelve in the second, when Vila-Condenses scored two goals, the second of which was validated after using the Video Referee (VAR), at 90+7.
The durability podium of this round was filled by the home successes achieved by Arouca and Boavista against Estoril Praia (4-3) and national champions Benfica (3-2) respectively, both with 18 minutes of compensation, in a global duration of 108 minutes. .
These two clashes brought about reversals in the final stretch, starting on Sunday, with Pedro Santos scoring in the 90+5 minute to give three points to the Serra da Freita team, who had already nullified three ‘Canary’ advantages and played less. 10 units from the 37th minute, after Eboué Kouassi was sent off with a red card.
The next day, a goal from Róbert Bozeník at 90+13 allowed the Bessa club to ‘spoil’ the beginning of the defense of the ‘incarnate’ title, after the penalty converted at 90 by Bruno Lourenço, who made it 2-2 made of. but would be evicted, at 90+9.
If Arouca set the record for ‘discounts’ in the first parts of the first round, with eight minutes – out of a total of 38, at an average of 4.2 -, Bessa had the highest mark of the complementary halves, with 16 – against a cumulative 92, an average of 10.2.
This approach, the most discreet examples of which were the games Gil Vicente-Portimonense (5-0) and Moreirense-FC Porto (1-2), both closed after 100 minutes (10 in addition to the regimental 90), serves to distance taking the I Pattern competition from previous editions of the test.
As a rule, referees added one to two minutes at the end of the initial phase, plus three to five at the end of the game, a scenario that had already blown up since the inclusion of the VAR in 2017/18, and the increase of three to five replacements in 2019/20.
The annual Laws of the Game update by the IFAB, the governing body for football’s rules, came into effect in July and stipulates that time spent celebrating goals at the end of each half must be made up, as was already the case with passes, transfers, consultation with the VAR and stopping for (medical) help.
The extension of extra time allocated by the refereeing teams began to be standardized in the 2022 World Cup squads and had repercussions in several club competitions, contributing to uncertainty in the result, as evidenced by the opening of the I Liga.
If Gil Vicente and Rio Ave extended their advantage with goals after the 90th minute, without implying changes in the outcome of the respective matches, Famalicão, who won in Braga with a comeback (2-1), Sporting, with a tangential victory over Vizela (3-2), Arouca and Boavista needed that moment to seal their three-point conquest.
Source: DN
