Missed chances and inspired goalkeeping see FC Porto tumble out

FC Porto 1-0 Schalke (1-1 on aggregate, Schalke win 4-1 on penalties)

Portuguese champions Porto crashed out of the Champions League on penalties, after taking Schalke to extra time on an emotionally draining night at the Estadio do Dragao.

The hosts, who were reduced to ten men in the closing stages of normal time after Jorge Fucile’s sending off, looked to be heading out of the competition until Lisandro Lopez’s late strike, but Porto were ultimately denied by a brilliant goalkeeping performance from Manuel Neuer.

Porto coach Jesualdo Ferreira was able to make several changes to the side which drew at Boavista on Saturday, bringing Jose Bosingwa, Ricardo Quaresma, Pedro Emanuel, Bruno Alves, Raul Meireles, Tarik Sektioui and Lisandro Lopez into the starting eleven as the hosts trailed 1-0 from the first leg in Germany.

As expected, Schalke arrived with the intention of protecting their lead and frustrating Porto, which proved successful in a first half that saw Porto enjoy large amounts of possession but create few clear-cut opportunities.

Headed chances

The best chance for Ferreira’s men to take the lead came when Lopez and Tarik both drew superb saves from Neuer within the space of thirty seconds. Lucho Gonzalez fed compatriot Lopez inside the area, only for Neuer to make the block, before Bosingwa’s cross was headed towards goal by Tarik, only for the 21-year-old to palm the ball away with his left hand.

Porto certainly appeared the stronger side and their performance was a clear improvement on the showing in Gelsenkirchen two weeks ago, but Schalke, who threatened sporadically through Westermann and Kuranyi, went into the break having restricted their opponents to few good attacking opportunities.

The Dragons were dealt a blow less than ten minutes into the second half when Bosingwa, who had provided his typical threat down the right with a series of surging runs and crosses, hobbled off with a recurrence of a thigh injury and was replaced by Mariano Gonzalez.

Almost immediately after Bosingwa’s departure, Porto created another golden chance, but were again denied by the superb reflexes of the Schalke goalkeeper. Quaresma’s chipped free-kick to the back post was headed across goal by Lucho towards Tarik, who glanced a header towards Neuer's left-hand corner, only to watch the youngster produce an incredible save with his outstretched boot.

Ernesto Farias was thrown into the fray by Ferreira and came close to getting on the end of a dangerous Lucho throughball, before Porto goalkeeper Helton was gifted a major let-off when he made a save two yards outside his area after misjudging the play, only for referee Howard Webb to fail to spot a mistake that would surely have seen the Brazilian sent off.

If Porto were lucky to avoid going down to ten men, their luck soon turned around as two crucial decisions went against them. First Farias appeared to have a good appeal for a penalty turned down after a clumsy challenge from Mladen Krstajić, then Fucile was harshly issued a straight red card for a foul on Westermann.

Superb Lopez strike

However, losing a player appeared to galvanise the men in white, who suddenly found the urgency missing for much of the previous 80 minutes, and top goalscorer Lopez drew his side level with four minutes left to play. Schalke’s attempts to clear the ball from their penalty area struck a German defender and Lopez, with his back to goal, turned and fired an unstoppable shot into the top corner.

Helton was called upon to deny Schalke substitute Gerald Asamoah in the dying minutes of stoppage time, but the referee blew for the end of ninety minutes, with a reverse of the result in the first leg meaning another thirty minutes of play.

Porto will again feel that they had the chances to win the tie during the extra half hour, with Farias finishing poorly after good work from Quaresma, then Neuer denying the winger when Quaresma intercepted a backpass to find himself clean through on goal.

But with neither side able to find the breakthrough, penalties were required to separate the sides, and Neuer proved the matchwinner with a save from Bruno Alves and a sensational stop to deny Lopez, with the Germans converting all four of their penalties to book their place in the quarter-finals.

FC Porto:
Helton; Bosingwa (Mariano Gonzalez, 54), Pedro Emanuel, Bruno Alves, Fucile; Lucho González, Paulo Assunção, Raul Meireles (Cech, 97); Tarik Sektioui (Farias, 58), Lisandro López, Ricardo Quaresma
Yellow Cards: Lucho Gonzalez
Red Cards: Fucile (82)

Schalke 04:
Neuer; Rafinha, Bordon (Howedes, 114), Krstajic, Westermann; Grossmuller (Rakitic, 112), Jones, Ernst, Kobiashvili; Kuranyi (Asamoah, 78), Halil Altintop
Yellow Cards: Kuranyi, Jones, Westerman, Kobiashvili

Goals:
[1-0] Lopez, 86

Penalty shootout:
[0-1] Rafinha scores
[1-1] Lucho Gonzalez scores
[1-2] Rakitic scores
[1-2] Bruno Alves misses
[1-3] Altintop scores
[1-3] Lopez misses
[1-4] Jones scores