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| Tuesday, 08 December 2009 21:57 |
FC Porto end group phase on a high noteAtletico Madrid 0-3 FC Porto It was the same ol' story between Atletico Madrid and FC Porto as the Portuguese champions marched into the Vicente Calderon and handed the hosts a 3-0 drubbing. Goals by Bruno Alves, Falcao and Hulk help maintain the Dragoes' superiority over their Spanish counterparts.
Despite being guaranteed to finish in second place behind Chelsea in Group D, Jesualdo Ferreira fielded a strong side at the Vicente Calderon, with three changes made to the side that beat Guimaraes on Friday. Maicon was drafted into the defence in place of Rolando and Diego Valeri was handed a start in midfield ahead of Fernando Belluschi, while Hulk returned to the attack and Silvestre Varela dropped to the bench. What would prove a surprisingly routine victory got off to the perfect start when Bruno Alves opened the scoring after just two minutes. The Dragons’ captain rose unmarked at the back post to meet a corner and power an unstoppable header past Sergio Asenjo. The lead was doubled after 14 minutes, with Radamel Falcao getting his third Champions League goal of the campaign. Jorge Fucile broke forward from right-back and drove a low cross/shot into the Atletico area, which goalkeeper Asenjo could only parry into the path of Falcao, who pounced to convert the chance. The same combination almost provided a third when Fucile’s cross from the right found Falcao unmarked, but the Colombian headed off target. Before that, Atletico had shown signs of life, with Sergio Aguero and Simao Sabrosa threatening, but the visitors went into the break comfortably ahead. Porto played the second half with relative comfort, and Falcao was again presented with a golden opportunity to increase his team’s lead, only to fire straight at Asenjo having been put through by Hulk. Helton was called into a save to deny Forlan at his near post, but the Porto goalkeeper was rarely given anything strenuous to do by a limp Atletico side. Hulk put the shine on a good night’s work for Porto with a sensational third fifteen minutes from time. Receiving possession over twenty metres from goal, the Brazilian carried the ball forward and shifted it onto his left foot, before unleashing a thunderous drive which cracked the underside of the crossbar before finding the back of the net. Atletico Madrid:Asenjo; Valera (Antonio Lopez, 46'), Perea, Juanito e Dominguez; Cléber Santana, Paulo Assunção, Maxi Rodriguez (Reyes, 66') e Simão; Aguero (Jurado, 46') e ForlanYellow cards: Simao (43), Aguero (45)
Helton; Fucile, Maicon (Sapunaru, 58'), Bruno Alves e Álvaro Pereira; Valeri (Guarin, 61), Fernando, Raul Meireles e Rodriguez; Hulk e Falcao (Varela, 68) |
Best regards from a Real Madrid Fan!