Boavista hold Porto to goalless draw

Boavista 0-0 FC Porto

An exciting match at the Bessa Stadium last night had everything but goals as Boavista earned a point against runaway Liga leaders FC Porto.

The Black Panthers did well to withstand intense late pressure as they were reduced to 10 men for the last 15 minutes, but just about deserved the point after having matched the Dragons and created chances of their own earlier in the match.

With their crucial Champions League clash against Schalke 04 to play on Wednesday, coach Jesualdo Ferreira understandably rested many of his top stars. None of Lisandro Lopez, Bosingwa, Pedro Emanuel, Raul Meireles, Tarik Sektioui or Quaresma started.

Even so Porto came close to grabbing all three points, especially in a frantic late spell of pressure which saw Stepanov have a goal dubiously ruled out for offside.

Ricardo Quaresma, who came on for the second half, also came desperately close to winning the game for the visitors with a thunderous shot from the edge of the box that crashed back into play off the bar, and two other efforts that whistled just past the post.

But Boavista did not restrict themselves to defence the speedy trio of Ze Kalanga, Laionel and Mateus kept Porto’s makeshift rearguard on their toes all match.

Kalanga, Mateus and Marcelao all came close to snatching victory against their local rivals, with Jorge Ribeiro again putting in an excellent display to further boost his chances of making the Euro 2008 squad.

Although dropping two points, Porto remain serenely in first place in the table and will sit back and watch the Lisbon derby with an enormous 13-point advantage over second-placed Benfica.

Boavista:
Peter Jehle, Gilberto Silva, Moises, Marcelao, Brayan Angulo, Fleurival, Diakite, Jorge Ribeiro (Bruno Pinheiro, 87, Ze Kalanga (Luis Loureiro, 78), Laionel (Hussaine, 67), Mateus
Yellow Cards: Diakite, Luis Loureiro, Hussaine, Diakite
Red Card Diakite (76)

FC Porto:
Helton, Fucile, Stepanov, Joao Paulo, Marek Cech, Lucho Gonzalez (Ricardo Quaresma, 46), Paulo Assuncao (Raul Meireles, 77), Kazmierczak, Mariano Gonzalez, Adriano, Farias (Tarik Sektioui, 70)
Yellow Cards: Adriano, Lucho Gonzalez, Raul Meireles, Tarik Sektioui