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Portugal: Porto and Braga fire blanks, Benfica win at last [Mon Sep 19th, 2005]
Lisbon (Reuters) - Porto and Braga played out a goalless draw that saw them preserve unbeaten starts to the Premier League season in their top-of-the-table clash.
The draw put both northern-based teams a point clear of third-placed Sporting, who visit Nacional Madeira next.
Sporting, last season's losing UEFA Cup finalists, are the only side in the league who still have a 100 percent record, having claimed nine points in three matches.
Earlier, a hat-trick by Benfica striker Nuno Gomes helped the champions beat Uniao Leiria 4-0 for their first league win of the season.
Following their worst start to a campaign, with a draw and two defeats, Benfica's victory takes them up to 12th in the 18-team league with four points from four games.
Boosted by their UEFA Champions League win over Lille in midweek, they went ahead in the third minute through Brazilian defender Anderson following a scramble in the goalmouth after a corner.
Gomes scored his first goal on the stroke of half-time with a tap-in after a neat cross from the right by new defender Nelson and tucked home another close-range effort after 61 minutes.
He got his hat-trick with a shot from inside the box after a long pass by substitute Joao Pereira five minutes from time.
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