4 February 2007, by Marco Pereira

Estrela shock Porto

FC Porto 0-1 Estrela da Amadora

FC Porto succumbed to their second consecutive defeat, falling to a 1-0 defeat against Estrela da Amadora at the Dragao to suffer a second shock home defeat of 2007 after being dumped out of the Portuguese Cup by minnows Atletico.

Anselmo was the hero for Estrela, as the team pulled off what seemed impossible, when he notched the game’s only goal in stoppage time. The win puts the team from the Lisbon suburbs in 11th place in the table with 20 points.

Full credit must be given to the Estrela board. After collecting just a single point from their opening seven matches, the hierarchy did not panic and maintained their faith in young coach, Dauto Faquira. They have been duly rewarded as Estrela have enjoyed a superb run of eight Bwin Liga matches without defeat to move into a comfortable mid-table position.

Porto started the game without Quaresma and Pepe with both players suspended for the match, and Jesualdo Ferreira threw in Vieirinha and Ricardo Costa in their places. It was Amadora who provided the game’s first scare in the 6th minute as Edu Silva released a shot from inside the Porto box and saw his ball whisk just past Helton’s post.

Postiga out of sorts

Porto’s response came in the 27th minute as Postiga was sent in alone by an incisive Lisandro Lopez pass only to be stopped by goalkeeper, Paulo Lopes. The Liga’s leading goalscorer seems to have lost his hot early-season form as he has not scored a goal since the win against Pacos de Ferreira almost two months ago.

Bosingwa tried his luck one minute later with a shot from distance that almost fooled Paulo Lopes, but the goalkeeper managed to punch the ball away to safety. The Estrela goalkeeper had to do the same from Lisandro Lopez in the 33rd minute.

Porto were looking to get their rhythm in the final half of the first half, but Paulo Lopes was more than up to the task. The second half was a different story as the home team looked unimaginative and hesitant, with the suspended Quaresma sorely missed.

Ferreira knew that he needed a change if his team were going to win the game and substituted Raul Meireles, Mareque and Vieirinha for Alan, Ibson and Sokota. The moves failed to pay off as Porto were not really asking any questions of the Estrela defence.

Just before full time Estrela’s second-half substitute, Anselmo, missed a glorious opportunity with only Helton to beat, but the forward hesitated and allowed Ricardo Costa to clear the danger.

However, the striker made up for the miss two minutes later when he expertly re-directed a cross into the Porto net and send his team into euphoria. Estrela snatched a victory right from underneath Porto’s nose to exact revenge for the 3-0 loss in September.

Porto seem to have lost their customary swagger over the winter break, and can now feel their bitter rivals Sporting and Benfica breathing down their necks.

FC Porto:
Helton, Bosingwa, Bruno Alves, Ricardo Costa, Lucas Mareque (Ibson, 75), Paulo Assuncao, Raul Meireles (Alan, 58), Lucho Gonzalez, Vieririnha (Sokota, 68), Helder Postiga, Lisandro Lopez
Yellow Cards: Helder Postiga (18), Paulo Assuncao (85)

Estrela da Amadora:
Paulo Lopes, Rui Duarte II, Amoreirinha, Fonte, Edu Silva, Marco Paulo, Luis Loureiro, Tiago Gomes, Rui Borges (Zamorano, 79), Nuno Viveiros (Anselmo, 67), Jones (Hugo Carreira, 67)
Yellow Cards: Amoreirinha (32)

Goals:
[0-1] Anselmo, 90