Sp. Braga beat Vitória de Guimarães 1-0 in a Minho derby marked by caution from both teams in the first half. The match came after the Bracenses had secured a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage after eliminating Vienna, and after several postponed fixtures on the calendar. Carlos Vicens, Braga's Spanish coach, made three changes to the starting eleven, bringing on Sergio Barcia, Travassos, and Dorgeles to manage the fatigue from the European marathon, while Tiago Margarido of Vitória kept unchanged the team that beat Nacional.
The first half was balanced and lacking in creativity, with Bernardo Fontes, Vitória's goalkeeper, making two important saves to stop opposition attacks. Victor Gómez, of Braga, hit the post with a powerful strike, a warning of the increased fluidity the hosts were gaining. On the Vitória side, the best chances came from assertive exits by the visiting goalkeeper.
In the second half, at the 55th minute, referee André Narciso awarded a penalty to Braga, but the VAR overturned the decision moments later due to offside by Pau Victor in the play that led to the penalty. The almost five minutes of delay left the game more tense and physical.
The decisive moment came at the 79th minute, through Diego Rodrigues. The midfielder, who came through Vitória's youth academy and is a Portugal U21 international, came on as a substitute and, with just seven minutes on the pitch, received the ball, beat his marker, and fired left-footed. The ball was still touched by Zich but could not prevent the goal. With this result, Braga move up to ninth place with four points, still with two games in hand, while Vitória suffer their third defeat in four rounds and remain in 12th position, with three points.
