Santa Clara 4-0 Rio Ave: Match Report, Goals, Stats and Ratings

How Santa Clara won it

The opening goal came in the 3rd minute: Brenner for Santa Clara, set up by Vinícius Lopes. Tiago Ribeiro made it 2-0 to Santa Clara in the 47th minute, set up by Gonçalo Paciência. Vinícius Lopes made it 3-0 to Santa Clara in the 52nd minute. Fernando made it 4-0 to Santa Clara in the 90th minute.

It was 1-0 at half-time.

The referee, A. Gonçalves Rodrigues, showed 2 yellow cards: 1 to Santa Clara and 1 to Rio Ave.

Santa Clara: Petit, 4-3-3 · Rio Ave: S. Silaidopoulos, 4-2-3-1.

Moneyball's prediction against the result

Moneyball did not publish a pre-match estimate for this match, so there is nothing to mark it against.

Why it went this way

On the day the expected goals were 0.68 for Santa Clara and 2.13 for Rio Ave.

Santa Clara scored about 3.3 more than their chances were worth: clinical finishing, or a goalkeeper having a bad day.

Rio Ave left about 2.1 goals' worth of chances on the pitch.

Rio Ave created the better chances, 2.13 xG to 0.68, and still lost. On chances alone, the result could easily have gone the other way.

Santa Clara had 6 shots on target, Rio Ave 3.

Santa Clara had 59% of the ball and turned it into the win.

Where the two sides stood before this match

Santa Clara came into it with 8 Liga Portugal matches played, scoring 1.5 and conceding 0.5 a match, with 1.37 expected goals for and 0.75 against, and had won 63% of their matches.

Rio Ave came into it with 8 Liga Portugal matches played, scoring 1.0 and conceding 2.1 a match, with 0.77 expected goals for and 1.86 against, and had won 25% of their matches.

Santa Clara vs Rio Ave: the match in numbers

Team statistics from Sportmonks.

Player ratings and man of the match

Man of the match: Vinícius Lopes (Santa Clara), rated 8.4 by Sportmonks, with 1 goal, 1 assist.

Santa Clara

• Vinícius Lopes 8.4 1 goal, 1 assist
• Pedro Pacheco 7.7
• Brenner 7.6 1 goal
• Pedro Ferreira 7.5
• Fernando 7.4 1 goal

Rio Ave

• Jalen Blesa 6.7
• Sebastian Clemmensen 6.6
• Malik Sellouki 6.5
• Tamble Monteiro 6.5
• Tamás Nikitscher 6.5

The lowest-rated starter was Georgios Liavas at 5.4. Ratings run from 0 to 10; around 7.0 is a solid match.

What comes next

• Santa Clara: Santa Clara vs Benfica Monday 26 October 2026 · Liga Portugal
• Rio Ave: Rio Ave vs Famalicão Sunday 25 October 2026 · Liga Portugal

Each preview has Moneyball's estimate for the next match, published before kick-off and marked against the result afterwards, as this one is.

Questions about Santa Clara vs Rio Ave

What was the score in Santa Clara vs Rio Ave?

Santa Clara 4-0 Rio Ave (half-time 1-0), Liga Portugal, Sunday 6 September 2026.

Who scored in Santa Clara vs Rio Ave?

Brenner 3', Tiago Ribeiro 47', Vinícius Lopes 52', Fernando 90'.

Did Moneyball predict Santa Clara vs Rio Ave correctly?

Moneyball did not publish a pre-match estimate for this match, so there is nothing to mark it against.

Who was man of the match in Santa Clara vs Rio Ave?

Vinícius Lopes, rated 8.4 by Sportmonks.

Who refereed Santa Clara vs Rio Ave?

A. Gonçalves Rodrigues.