Olhanense made the long trip to play Nacional without injured skipper Rui Duarte, stalwart wing-back Luis Felipe and midfielder Lucas Souza but came away with a creditable 0-0 draw.
The visitors were by far the better team in the first-half, with ‘Man of the Match’ keeper Gottardi saving firstly from Vojtus and then twice from Dionisi, who was the pick of the Olhanense team.
Former Olhanense striker Djaniny could have given Nacional the lead on 20 minutes when clear through on goal, but Belec narrowed the angle to deny the Cape Verde international who has scored three goals in seven games this campaign.
Referee Duarte Gomes incurred the wrath of the home officials and supporters when he controversially dismissed Aly Ghazal on the half-hour mark.
Olhanense continued to attack and shoot on sight but Gottardi was equal to anything thrown at him. After the break, the 10 men were more positive and it was Olhanense who were on the back foot with keeper Belec and centre-back Kroldrup in fine form and they repelled the island attack.
In the final frantic five minutes, Olhanense full-back Coubronne was sent-off after picking up two yellow cards, but the visitors were not to be denied a point they richly deserved.
As the final whistle went, the 53 travelling fans – they had left Olhão at midnight the previous Thursday –were warmly applauded by the players.
New boss Paulo Alves said: “We are in a period of assimilation with new methods and a new team structure. I want to highlight the commitment and attitude of the players, which was excellent. We had a number of opportunities to score and the quality of play was generally good. I am very satisfied with an away point.”
By CHRIS WRIGHT sport@algarveresident.com
