Three off as Benfica are hammered.

LISBON, Portugal - Austrian international striker Roland Linz scored twice in Boavista's 3-0 home win over eight-man Benfica, who were making their seasonal bow in the Portuguese Premier League on Saturday.

Benfica's inaugural match was postponed after the Portuguese Federation relegated Gil Vicente for breaking player registration rules and they suffered a nightmare start against Boavista.

Nuno Gomes, Manu and Armanedro Petit were all sent off on what was a disastrous night for the visitors.

Under new coach Zeljko Petrovic, Boavista opened the scoring when Linz fired home from the edge of the box on 36 minutes.

Benfica were reduced to 10 men on 68 minutes when striker Nuno Gomes was sent off for two bookable offences.

Seven minutes later Linz doubled the lead when he headed home a cross from the right from Poland winger Rafal Gazelak.

In stoppage time, Boavista sealed their first win in four years with the third goal by Poland midfielder Przemyslaw Kazmierczak.

Benfica winger Manu was sent off near the final whistle for rough play, followed by midfielder Armanedro Petit with two yellow cards.

Sporting secured a morale-boosting win before facing Inter Milan by battling to a 1-0 win over Nacional Madeira, their first success in Madeira in five years on Saturday.

Sporting shared top spot with Braga, who beat promoted Desportivo Aves 1-0 away on Friday. Both have maximum points from two games.

The Madeira Island team, who fly to Romania to meet Rapid Bucarest in the first leg of UEFA Cup, played the last seven minutes with 10 men after defender Fernando Cardozo was sent off with two bookable offences.

Young midfielder Nani hit the winner, neatly chipping over Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio after 12 minutes in Sporting's last match before the opening tie of the Champions League group stage at home to Inter on Tuesday.

Source: CNN.com