Alan Ruiz strike secures three points in CTT Cup opener

"Força Chapecoense", the chant spread around the Estádio José Alvalade in tribute to the Brazilian side after this week's tragic events in Colombia. There was no shortage of tributes to Marcelo Boeck too, who is currently on loan with Chapecoense but who did not travel with the team.

After a minute's silence, the game got off to roaring start, with Rui Sacramento slapping away a shot from Elias. Sancidino responded a minute later for Arouca, but hit shot finished up the wrong side of the post.

On 10 minutes Alan Ruiz tried to steer a free-kick towards goal, but to little success. Five minutes later Markovic charged forward with possession and eventually released Alan Ruiz, who had the vision to find Joel Campbell down the left flank. The Costa Rican threw a poisonous looking cross into the box, but Scramento comfortably brought the move to an end with a secure safe.

Again Arouca rallied down the other end almost instantly and Vitor managed to ghost his way past various players before being robbed of possession by Elias. A free-kick on the half-hour mark gave Douglas golden opportunity with an unmarked header, but his effort proved off target. Campbell fired another shot wide of the mark on 34 minutes and with one minute left before the break Crivellaro stole back possession and Vítor broke through on goal, only to be denied by Beto once again. If you don't put your goals away then you always run the risk of conceding and Alan Ruiz obliged with a brilliant touch into space and low placed shot seconds before the whistle.

André could have made it two shortly after the restart after a latching on to the rebound from a Petrovic header, but he drove his shot straight at the Arouca keeper. Risking more going forward in search of an equaliser, Arouca began to leave space at the back and Markovic made the most of it to start bombarding the visiting 18-yard box with venomous crosses. Castaignos really could have made it two with a quarter of an hour left, after an inch-perfect pass from Campbell, but in the end the solo strike from Ruiz proved enough to seal the points.