4 October 2007, by Sean Gillen

Last-gasp Quaresma goal earns Porto crucial win

Besiktas 0-1 FC Porto

Ricardo Quaresma scored a dramatic late winner in stoppage time to give Porto what could prove a crucial victory from their Group A match in Turkey against Besiktas.

A closely-fought encounter, played in a crackling atmosphere, looked to be heading for a draw until Quaresma popped up with a 92nd minute goal, which was made even more important after Marseille’s win at Liverpool in the group’s other match.

Both sides appeared to lack a cutting edge in attack during the first half, but while Porto probably played the better passing football, the Turkish side came closest to scoring as they troubled the visitors on set-pieces.

The game was just minutes old when an expert delivery from Matias Delgado found Serdar Kurtulus, but the defender headed over. Helton was then called into action to stop Ibrahim Toraman’s header following a corner, and the Brazilian would later produce an excellent double-handed save to push Cisse’s shot wide.

Porto, meanwhile, appeared happy ease their way into the game, and rarely took risks in committing men forward in the first period, although Quaresma was typically lively and forced a save from Hakan Arikan. Raul Meireles also had an effort from long-range, with the midfielder’s shot dipping just over the crossbar.

Gonzalez influence

Having successfully survived the first half, Jesualdo Ferreira’s men looked more positive in the second half, with Lucho Gonzalez becoming far more prevalent for the Portuguese champions. The Argentine’s great ball across the penalty area found Quaresma, but the winger could not adjust his feet and failed to trouble Arikan with his finish.

Two goals at the weekend did nothing to inspire Lisandro Lopez, and Ferreira replaced the miss-firing Argentine with Brazilian striker Adriano. The substitute had an opportunity almost instantly, but headed over from Cech’s left-wing cross.

Besiktas continued to threaten at times, with Helton again called upon to deny substitute Higuain, who had been put through one-on-one with the Porto goalkeeper by Delgado’s threaded pass.

The evening looked to be set for a share of the spoils, but Porto remained positive and took all three points after some rather fortunate build-up play. Gonzalez was typically the provider, but the Porto captain clearly miss-hit an attempted cross to find Quaresma, who took a touch before prodding the ball home.

Besiktas:
Arikan, Kurtulus (Tandogan, 71), Tello, Toraman, Zan, Cisse, Uzulmez, Ozkan, Akin (Higuain, 67), Delgado, Bobo (Nobre, 27)
Yellow Cards: Nobre, Tandogan

Porto:
Helton, Bosingwa, Fucile, Alves, Stepanov, Assuncao, Meireles (Lima, 88), Lucho Gonzalez, Sektioui (Cech, 66), Quaresma, Lopez (Adriano, 75)
Yellow Cards: Alves, Lucho Gonzalez

Goals:
[0-1] Quaresma, 92