27 August 2007, by Tom Kundert

Meireles strikes to give Porto victory

FC Porto 1-0 Sporting

Porto won the first clash of the titans in this season’s Bwin Liga campaign, beating Sporting 1-0 at a packed Estadio do Dragao thanks to a second-half strike from Portugal midfielder Raul Meireles.

The champions dominated the first half and created several chances, with Quaresma smacking the bar with a trademark free-kick. Sporting improved in a well-contested second 45 minutes but paid the price for a mistake from goalkeeper Stojkovic.

Porto were missing injured forwards Adriano and Ernesto Farias, and coach Jesualdo Ferreira sprang a surprise by selecting Moroccan Tarik Sektoui ahead of Portugal striker Helder Postiga against a full-strength Sporting side.

The hosts started strongly with Quaresma and Tarik both firing in dangerous early shots. Stojkovic dealt with the Portuguese winger’s effort while Tarik’s low effort sped just wide of the post.

Livewire Tarik

The Moroccan winger was fully justifying his surprise inclusion with a lively display. In the 20th minute a brilliant piece of control enabled the forward to collect a long cross-field pass and speed past Polga in one movement, and his low cross was just missed by Meireles. Tarik then beat Izmailov to cause more panic in the Sporting area with a dangerous cross before the same player fired just wide of the post from the edge of the box.

In the 28th minute it was Quaresma’s turn to come close. Porto won a free-kick wide on the left flank in a similar position to where Quaresma had scored a brilliant winner against Braga last week. The winger hit another fabulous shot that beat Stojkovic and ricocheted into the crowd after thudding against the top of the crossbar.

Sporting at last caused some danger in the 32nd minute when Joao Moutinho hit a fine shot from outside the area that whistled narrowly wide. Although Porto continued to hold the upper hand, Sporting tightened up in defence and it was no surprise when the half-time whistle went with the scoreline blank.

The visitors came out far stronger in the second half with Derlei, Abel and Moutinho all hitting efforts towards goal in a promising period for the Lions. Ironically, it was during Sporting’s best spell that Porto would score the all-important goal.

Centre-back Anderson Polga intercepted a Porto attack by playing the ball back to his goalkeeper Stojkovic, and the Serbian, under pressure from Postiga, decided to pick up the ball instead of kicking it clear. The referee had no hesitation is awarding a free-kick on the edge of the six-yard box. With everyone expecting Lucho Gonzalez to lay the ball off to Quaresma, the Argentine played a clever back-heel to Raul Meireles who fired an unstoppable shot into the back of the net past the ten-man wall camped on the goal-line.

Bento goes for broke

The goal changed the complexion of the match, with Sporting forced to come out of their shell. Paulo Bento brought on Vukcevic for the quiet Izmailov, and later took a risk by taking off both full backs and reverting to a three-man defence.

Despite Sporting’s pressure they struggled to create clear-cut chances. Derlei was the last to threaten when he found himself in a good shooting position inside the box and his strike was spilled by Porto keeper Helton, but Djalo was unable to deflect the rebound into the net.

Porto held on for a deserved win and will be delighted to have stolen an early march on title rivals Sporting and Benfica.

Porto:
Helton, Bosingwa, Bruno Alves, Pedro Emanuel, Fucile, Lucho, Paulo Assuncao, Raul Meireles (Mariano Gonzalez, 67), Tarik (Postiga, 46), Lisandro (Bolatti, 84), Quaresma
Yellow Cards: Quaresma (33), Bosingwa (86), Helton (93)

Sporting:
Stojkovic, Abel (Pereirinha, 76), Tonel, Polga, Ronny (Djalo, 46), Joao Moutinho, Miguel Veloso, Romagnoli, Izmailov (Vukcevic, 62), Derlei, Liedson
Yellow Cards: Derlei (52), Tonel (54), Polga (72)

Goals:
[1-0] Raul Meireles, 53