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| Tuesday, 01 November 2011 21:42 |
Defeated Porto on verge of Champions League KOAPOEL 2-1 FC Porto FC Porto crashed to defeat in Cyprus tonight and now need a minor miracle to remain in the Champions League. APOEL took the lead shortly before half time through an Ailton penalty. Hulk’s 88th-minute spot kick seemed to have saved a point for the Dragons, but ex Benfica forward Manduca scored a stoppage time winner.
Many had scoffed at suggestions that Porto were in something of a crisis. The Dragons have after all started the season strongly domestically, and the disappointing results in the opening half of the Champions League campaign did not appear irreparable. Those opinions may be changing now.
The defeat in the GSP Stadium was the first time a Cypriot side had beaten a Portuguese team. Yet, just like at the Estadio do Dragao a fortnight ago, this was no freak result. Porto huffed and puffed all night long, yet it’s a damning indictment that APOEL goalkeeper Urko Pardo did not have a difficult save to make all match.
Intimidating atmosphereVitor Pereira again raised eyebrows with some of his selections, most notably the omission of Colombian midfielder James Rodriguez from the starting line-up. As the match kicked off, the frenzied atmosphere of APOEL’s fantastic fans added to the feeling Porto were in for a trying night. Porto’s defending looked far from solid from the offset. Mangala was fortunate to escape a yellow card in the opening moments for a crunching tackle, but Varela did not escape with a similarly mistimed challenge in a nervy opening by the visitors.
On 16 minutes Rolando was fortunate to get away with what looked like a strong penalty shout after Charalambides went down under his challenge. The ball soon broke to the other end of the pitch with Hulk wriggling past his marker and firing a shot in from a tight angle that Pardo deflected for a corner. Again the play switched ends, and only a superb reaction stop from Porto goalkeeper Helton, with the aid of the post, denied the hosts after Ailton had got in front of Mangala to head goalwards.
Porto’s high defensive line was catching APOEL’s forwards offside on numerous occasions, but it was a dangerous game, with a couple of debatable decisions denying the hosts one-on-one opportunities against Helton. Manduca, putting in the sort of performance never seen in his short stint at the Estadio da Luz, Ailton and Trickovski were combining well, while Porto were over-reliant of Hulk for attacking inspiration.
The hosts got the breakthrough on 42 minutes, when Mangala felled Ailton in the box. Contact was made, the Brazilian made the most of it, and the referee pointed to the spot. Ailton picked himself up to calmly slot the ball low into the corner and send the already raucous crowd into raptures of joy.
Resolute defenceWith Porto in desperate need of a goal and APOEL happy to play on the counter, the Dragons increasingly dominated possession in the second half. Yet the well-organised home defence resolutely refused to buckle and chances were at a premium. A powerful Hulk run down the right flank finally seemed to have opened up the Cypriot defence. Paulo Jorge’s half-clearance fell invitingly to Bellushci, but Portuguese midfielder Bruno Morais got in the way of his shot to make a vital interception, and Guarin’s well struck long-range follow-up effort was too close to keeper Pardo.
The introduction of James Rodriguez at last gave Porto another attacking avenue. The Columbian immediately asked questions of the APOEL defence with his nimble footwork. Yet the chances failed to materialise. Just when it seemed all hope was lost, Rodriguez went down even more theatrically than Ailton had, and again the referee was duped into pointing to the spot. Hulk kept his cool to tuck away the spot kick and immediately ran to pick up the ball, sensing that a dramatic late winner was not beyond Porto.
The late winner would indeed come, but for APOEL. A rapid counter attack was finished off by Manduca at the far post, although replays showed the officials again left a lot to be desired as the Brazilian was offside.
Nevertheless, Porto know they cannot blame defeat on the referee. With Zenit beating Shakhtar earlier in the day, Porto need to win both their remaining games and beat the Russians by at least two clear goals to make progress to the knockout stages. On the evidence of a sorry Champions League campaign thus far, a more realistic target is finishing above Shakhtar to make sure they are not knocked out of Europe altogether.
FC Porto:
Helton, Fucile, Rolando, Mangala, Alvaro Pereira, Belluschi (Defour, 76), Fernando (Guarin, 60), Joao Moutinho, Hulk, Kleber, Varela (Rodriguez, 60)
Goals:
[0-1] Ailton, 41 (pen)
[1-1] Hulk, 88 (pen)
[2-1] Manduca, 90
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Tripeiro/UK - yes, Porto is the best at everything, especially buying referess, we know that, give it a rest, So, if Porto is responsible for Portugal having it's co-efficient ranking then I guess they're also responsible for ruining it by taking only a point against APOEL?
Keep it real, ladies - real delusional.
A lot could be written off due to AVB's departure along with Falcao's.
There's still plenty of crazy's out there. PSG, Malaga and Anzhi have money burning in their pockets.
Keep in mind that Porto is still fine in the domestic league, and could still make a run, especially if it was to drop to Europa.
Porto was never going to get the 100 mil that they've set, but anything close to 50 mil would be a windfall.
I've never been of the philiosophy that Portuguese clubs should always sell their players when they're at their prime, but exceptions have to be made for players like Hulk. Porto would have been able to build a decent team out of the Hulk windfall alone and I'm not so sure they'll be able to get the same buck for the bang unless Hulk steps up. If the rest of Europe doesn't hear about Porto, his value will probably declien further.
He has outlived his usefulness at the club by helping them win the Europa League last year, so he is now satisfied with that and doesn’t seem to have any more goals in his career other than concentrate on his newfound persona!
When a soccer player becomes a persona as happened with Man Utd’s David Beckham some years ago, they stop being football players hungry for team success and change to attention seeking hotheads! A primadonna will always put him self ahead of the team so he becomes a serious liability.
My advice to Porto is to get rid of him ASAP, and give new players who are hungry for success a chance.
Although Porto took a ton of shots, 23, they were mostly from way outside the box, 15 to be exact.
The other think that struck me, was at how even the fouls were. They finished with 14 fouls apiece with APOEL getting 3 yellows and Porto 2. That just shouldn't be the case. Porto should be earning the calls, but not commit nearly as many. Rest assured that I am not blaiming the ref on this one. Porto has commited a ton of fouls this season.
Mangala clearly made contact on the penalty. Let me add that James on the other hand was embarassing. He not only fell before contact, creating no contact, but he also rolled around grabbing at his ankle like a fool. Trust me I was happy the call came, but even Porto players went over to James and stood him up quickly. The over simulation was pathetic, when he didn't even get touched. Let me add that I did think that contact would have happened and James simulation/dive actually stopped it from occuring.
On the last goal the inital pass looked offside, but after replaying it, it wasn't.
Let me add that the Portuguese announcers went on about how Porto was caught off since they were looking for the winner. But if you look at the replay the defenders should have dealt with it much better than they did. Both centerbacks chased the ball, missed and let players go by. All around bad communication and decision making.
Let's also give APOEL some credit. This squad basically had no shot at finishing anywhere but last, and they fought and have earned their place. They've now shocked Porto and Zenit at home, and got results on the road. Not easy. The smaller teams always play with a lot of pride at home, and once get belief in them, look out. Fans belive in cinderela stories, why not them.
Porto could still qualify, but if it was hard before thsi match, it just got much harder. The fact remains that they can still get 10 points. There is no room for error, and they will be facing teams that will also feel that they have to get a result from the games. Shakhtar will be fighting for their lives as well, and be home. Granted they have to feel as disapointed as Porto so far in the Champions League.
Zenit will be fighting for that top spot as well, and it might not be a lock come that final match. Ironically, APOEL may yet not advance.
Tripeiros must be beside themselves. Let me add that Hulk has now gone off twice. I've dismissed his tantrum vs P Ferreira, but let's see if this becomes a trend.
Let me add that all the comments that Pereira made early on, could be telling now. For me they were warning signs.
"I don't want to mess up what I have in hand."
"I don't want to over burden the team tactically."
In my opinion, he basically has failed to integrate himself into the squad. It seems as if he's just rolling the ball out. When there's a wobble in form, and there clearly has been, what kind of presence does he have with the team. We'll find out very quickly.
I understand PdC cashing in on Falcao. The player clearly moved for the money. He's scoring at Atletico, but he's never been further for Champions Lague play than when he was at River Plate.
AVB is also having a rough go at Chelsea. They have lost two in a row in the EPL and yesterday's draw vs Genk was embarassing as well. Someone wil have to answer as to why David Luiz was the one taking the penalty. Really? A center back? He also took a free kick from just outside the box. Really?
answer: porto doesnt play so bad in european level.just APOEL was playing very good..put it in your mind..they did 20 shoots on the sky
APOEL did portugal proud last night & all of portugal should be excited & should praise the performance of our portuguese brothers on that team. I am absolutely ecstatic they won.
Porto shouldnt even be in the CL, they should be in the copa libratadores.
answer: APOEL SHOULD WIN LAST NIGHT.what porto did?absolutely nothing. u saw games with apoel and u didnt like apoel?well we didnt lose from zenit 3 - 0 yet.so keep being dissaponted
Oh well hopefully my Benfica can do it for Portugal tonight. FORCA SLB!!!!!
Please think before posting such idiotic comments!
Portugal has a lot to thank Porto for. Three European trophies in the last 8 years compared to ZERO from the other so called big Portuguese sides.
There is rarely ever a sense of stability, because the club is always in a state of flux, with a revolving door policy.
Kleber hasn't reached the level of a first choice striker, he should really be warming the bench for a couple of seasons and walter should be leading the line. It was pretty obvious we were always going to struggle with just one entirely inexperienced striker. Falcao should have given us another season, he's not really doing much for Atletico Madrid.
What typically follows a run of poor results is that the players get restless and demotivated and start to look abroad, just like Meireles and Alves did a couple of seasons ago. I hope it doesn't happen this time - except maybe for Rolando, the sooner he goes the better.
Porto fc is only HULK.
Porto hasn't been looking good for a while. VP doesn't seem to know what he is doing and taking 1 point from APOEL in two games is a disgrace.
Leaving Walter out of the CL squad list was a huge oversight.
Striker position is an major issue and defour, iturbe need more games .
What they should do is buy Ailton from APOEL he is half decent.
I wouldn't sack VP yet but he needs to get third position at least and have a good run at Europa. There isn't any decent teams in Europa and its definately winable.
Porto need to buy in January.
Dont try out of bitterness to diminish the result.
There is only one way to win and this is by scoring.
The "it was not penalty" talk is cheap.
Accept your defeat with dignity!
I had many Portista's ramble about Hulk's greatness and how they wouldn't miss Falcao.. doesn't look tha great now.
Anyways I still believe Porto can turn it but like Steve I would rather see a 3rd place and a good Europa run....Pereira has been borderline.. and most Portista's are feeling the pain of having a Manager at the same level as JJ... which is a step into the abyss.
Anyways we pray for good Portuguese results. 3 guaranteed spots is better than two in the CL.
If Portugal pass Italy in the Co-efficient I will be more giddy than a school yard slut getting fingered.. by the prettiest boy in school.
I will be so giddy that I give my mechanic a $200 tip for overbilling me.
AU 79
APOEL ULTRAS
I mean really APOEL......... c'mon.
My thought is that for a couple off games not to shoot from long range and see how it goes! Its what coasted us the match!!!
Look lets be honest they way Porto are playing in Europe is just terrible but lucky for them everyone else except (Apoel) has been slightly better and slightly worse so the group is 8 Apoel 7 Zenit 4 Porto, 2 Shahtar.
They could still qualify (highly unlikely will need very big home win against Zenit then away win over Shahtar) or even finish fourth (depending on what Shahtar do). I think the best result for Portugal's co-effients would be for them to finish 3rd and make a good run in the Europa again much like Braga and Benfica did last session. Even if Porto can scrape through to the knockout rounds then they will most likely face a group winner and that could be Barcelona, Bayern, Madrid etc so they will just get smashed and make our co-effients worse. Lets face it this Porto team is a shadow of Andre Vilas Boas side which took all before them, and it clear that the real star of that team was him.
I really hope i'm wrong about Porto
Here's a thought i would like to put forward, the funny thing is i was thinking last season that if Domingos Pacienca had not moved or anouced his move to Sporting so early then he would have been the next Porto coach anyways thats history.
OK back to work for me :)
also to joao in holland. if porto end up 3rd in the group they would most likely grab more Coef points for portugal than they would in the knock out stages of Champions League. even though i would prefer they make the knock out stages.
hopefully the wellinton rumors and true and we will have a new striker this january