Soccer-Benfica secure third place by beating Braga

LISBON, May 17 (Reuters) - Benfica secured third spot in the Portuguese Premier League on Sunday with a 3-1 away win over Braga while Porto thrashed struggling Trofense 4-1 and Sporting beat Maritimo 2-1.

Porto, who clinched the title last weekend, are on 69 points with one match left and Sporting are second on 63. Benfica are on 56 points, with Braga seven points adrift.

Paraguayan striker Oscar Cardozo opened the scoring for Benfica in the seventh minute, beating the offside trap to head in from a pass by Konstatinos Katsouranis. Angel di Maria added a second on 13 minutes, finishing coolly after a bad clearance by Braga keeper Eduardo.

Urreta scored Benfica's third at the start of the second half and Braga earned a consolation goal moments before the final whistle when Luis Aguiar scored from a penalty.

On Saturday, Porto's Argentine forwards Lisandro Lopez and Ernesto Farias scored two goals each against Trofense. Sporting's Liedson also netted twice in the win over Maritimo.

(Reporting by Shrikesh Laxmidas; Editing by John Mehaffey; to query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)