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| Tuesday, 13 September 2011 20:47 |
Porto off to winning startFC Porto 2-1 Shakhtar Donetsk Goals from Hulk and Kleber saw Porto come from behind to beat Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk in their opening Group G match at the Estadio do Dragao tonight. Earlier Porto had missed a penalty and fallen behind after a Helton mistake allowed Luis Adriano to open the scoring.
Both coaches had lavished their opponent’s side with praise before the game, and a highly entertaining and incident-packed first half reinforced the idea that we were witnessing a battle between two well-matched sides.
Vitor Pereira sprang a surprise in his starting XI, selecting Belgian newcomer Defour over Belluschi, and the hosts twice came close to an early breakthrough. First Hulk’s shot deflected off Defour, ballooned over the goalkeeper and hit the top of the bar, and soon afterwards the big Brazilian had the perfect opportunity to put Porto ahead as James Rodriguez was adjudged to have been fouled in the box. Hulk stepped up and smashed his penalty kick hard and low but it bounced off the inside of the post and away to safety.
Not satisfied with letting their opponents off the hook, Porto then immediately gifted Shakhtar a goal. William’s low shot seemed harmless enough, but Helton made a hash of scooping it up and Luiz Adriano gleefully knocked the loose ball into the net. The skilful visitors grew in confidence and dominated the match for the proceeding minutes. Rakytskiy went close and former Arsenal striker Eduardo had the ball in the Porto net, but it was ruled out for offside.
Hulk rocketPorto were finding it hard to pass their way through a resolute defence. On 28 minutes Hulk dispensed with such niceties, injecting astounding pace into the ball to send a 30-yard free-kick rocketing into the top corner, almost removing Shakhtar goalkeeper Rybka’s hands in the process, who was powerless to stop the ball’s trajectory. Shortly afterwards O Incrível almost did it again, but the keeper managed to get his fists to another long-range howitzer, this time from open play.
Porto were now beginning to get on top of their opponents, and the game turned definitively in their favour five minutes before the break when Rakytskiy earned a straight red card (and a fearful rollocking from his coach Mircea Lucescu) for a violent lunge at Joao Moutinho’s feet. The Dragons did not take long to make the extra man count. In the 51st minute a superb run and cross from James Rodriguez allowed striker Kleber to tap in one of the easiest goals he will ever score.
The quality of the match then took a nosedive. Porto passed the ball around accurately but lacked a sense of urgency or incisiveness in and around the box. Aware of the importance of starting the Champions League group phase with a win, Porto were happy to take the sting out of the game and run down the clock. With Hulk running out of steam, it was inevitably James who looked the most likely source of adding to Porto’s lead, the Colombian drawing a good save out of Rybka in the 65th minute.
Late scareWith just one goal in it there was a distinct sense of nervousness floating around the stadium, and had Luiz Adriano not taken a heavy touch when he escaped the attentions of Maicon he could well have made the hosts pay. Porto’s task was facilitated with ten minutes remaining as Chygrynskiy was harshly given a second yellow card after a foul on Djalma to leave the Ukrainians playing with nine men. From the resulting free kick James was denied a well-deserved goal by the crossbar.
Porto’s positive start was made even better by the news that Zenit Saint Petersburg had been beaten 2-1 at APOEL in Cyprus, in a match where Bruno Alves was sent off, thus ruling him out of the encounter against his former employers in Moscow in two weeks’ time.
Goals:
[0-1] Luiz Adriano, 12
[1-1] Hulk, 28
[2-1] Kleber, 51
Tom Kundert
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You could also tell how much that goal meant to Kleber. He is under tremendous pressure to succeed. Scoring in the CL opening match had to take a load off him.
The biggest think that bothered me was Pereira's comments after the match.
He said; "Temos muitos jogadores talentosos e quero orientá-los sem muitas amarras tácticas, para que possam desenvolver para um patamar superior. Espero é não estragar tudo aquilo que tenho em mãos."
To me that speaks of a manager reacting to his players and what they accomplished last season, instead of being proactive in their development. Granted he is continuing AVB's work, but at some point he has to instill his own tactics, plan and will on the squad. During the innevitable crisis time in the season, the players will be looking at a manager that hasn't put his signature in the club. How they react to him then, could be interesting.
Just a thought.
I also wanted to mention the horrific loss Zenit took. I'm not so sure that APOEL did Porto any favors by winning this game. Zenit will be that more desperate in winning their next match, which is vs Porto.
On a side note, Danny had a beautiful through ball to assist on Zenit's goal. Hopefully Bento was watching and will act accordingly and put him in as the Seleccao's #10. I highly doubt it.
Alves also earned a second yellow, harshly I might add, which will see him miss the game vs Porto. Good break for the Tripeiros.
I wanted to touch on Group H, if I may.
The Barca vs Milan game was a great watch. Barca being down 1-0 so early, it forced them to play beautiful football. Instead of seeing endless passes between the midfield and backline, they were moving it with purpose and forward. Let me add that this match contained three of my most hated player's. Master divers, Busquets, Alves and von Bommel all took part. It was actually Busquets dive that gave Barca the free kick in which Villa scored so beautifully. Although Milan didn't have many opportinities, the ones they did have were very good. Pato's first touch escaped him early on, or the game could have easily been 2-0 early. Barca needs to have Pique and Puyol anchoring that middle, and will regret not bringing anyone in to support them. Iniesta's injury has to be a concern as well. They have hit with the injury bug.
On a side note, Seedorf looked so fluid and great at times, but father time has definately caught up with him. He just doesn't have the legs to play the whole match anymore. But with Pirlo gone, Milan will be scrambling for a provider all year.
All in all, although "parking the bus", I thought that Milan earned the draw.
It's hard not seeing these two not advancing. Too much experience, and it would take a monumental effort from BATE or Plzn, who also drew in their match.
Thank goodness for the DVR/TIVO. Sleep is the only thing missing during the CL.
FORÇA PORTO!
good chance to run away with the group if they win the next game. if apoel could manage at least a draw next game that would be huge
Going forward, Porto look stout and their build up play is really quite attractive. They had one touch football flowing beautifully at times and were unlucky to not score another goal. The free kicks were (obviously) another positive. You have to get the feeling that with Falcao, the scoreline would likely have been 3-1 or 4-1.
Need a little better concentration on defense, otherwise, Porto look really good.