Braga keep Champions League hopes alive

Competition debutants Sporting Braga belatedly launched their bid for a place in the Champions League knockout phase with a 2-0 win over Partizan Belgrade here on Tuesday.

With the two sides having lost both of their opening matches, the Group H encounter had the feel of a last chance saloon and the hosts struck first when Lima fired a 30-yard free-kick into the top-left corner in the 35th minute.

Partizan, European Cup finalists in 1965-66, were unable to find a way back into the game and Matheus sealed victory for Braga by finishing off a last-minute counter-attack.

The win moves Braga to within three points of second-placed Shakhtar Donetsk in the battle to join likely group winners Arsenal in the last 16.

Partizan and Braga will meet again in Serbia in their next group game on November 3.