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| Friday, 28 October 2011 21:10 |
Porto 3-0 Pacos de FerreiraDragons go clear at the top Porto moved clear at the top of the Liga ZON Sagres table this evening, with a 3-0 defeat of Pacos de Ferreira at the Dragao. An unfortunate own goal from Melgarejo on the stroke of the interval opened the scoring, with substitutes Kleber and Moutinho sealing the deal in the second half.
Vitor Pereira named an unchanged XI from last weekend’s 5-0 victory over Nacional, with both Defour and Belluschi retaining their places the in midfield ahead of Guarin and Moutinho, both of whom were benched for a second successive outing. Luis Miguel also kept faith with round eight’s line-up, which saw Os Castores net a fine win over Academica. Pereira and Miguel are related by marriage, but all ties were thrust aside for the first forty-five minutes, as Porto set about maintaining their momentum, and Pacos set about stalling the Dragons, whilst seeking openings on the break.  As has often been the case since his arrival, goalkeeper Cassio was arguably the outstanding performer for the away side, denying Belluschi twice during the first half. A slow reaction from Walter meant that the in-form Brazilian skewed his shot from Rolando’s flick-on when it seemed easier to score, and having settled well, Pacos began to impose themselves.The home support had already been riled by the missed chances, and when Melgarejo almost opened the scoring ten minutes before half time, the whistles could be heard clearly. Cassio was involved once more, punting the ball high towards the Porto goal. Sapunaru inexplicably allowed the ball to bounce, and the speedy Melgarejo (on loan at Pacos from Benfica) raced beyond the Romanian and towards Helton’s goal. His shot was well struck, but it flew inches wide. Just as it seemed as if Porto were set to endure a goalless opening half, a defensive mix-up gifted them an opener. Alvaro played a neat one-two with Hulk on the left wing, and the Uruguayan surged into the box before delivering a low cross. Luisinho, who had enjoyed an excellent night up to that point, shaped to clear, but his hooked effort instead bounced off the shins of Melgarejo (who was left with no time to get out of the way, such was his proximity to Luisinho) and into the net. Fortuitous it may have been, but Porto went in at half time ahead. The well-timed goal provided a platform for Porto to exert a far tighter grip on proceedings, throughout the second half. Perhaps with Tuesday’s Champions League trip to Cyprus in mind, Vitor Pereira withdrew Defour and Hulk before the hour mark, with Moutinho and James entering the fray. Kleber also replaced Walter, with the Brazilian exiting somewhat gingerly. Hulk went straight down the tunnel.  The introduction of Moutinho proved to be the decisive moment of the half, with the number eight seemingly galvanised by his recent demotion to the bench. On 64 minutes, he glided into the penalty area and laid the ball off for his fellow substitute James. The Colombian’s side-footed strike beat Cassio but not the post, and the ball fell kindly for Kleber to stab home. The goal knocked the stuffing out of Pacos, with the away side’s collective head dropping visibly during the final twenty minutes. Porto were stroking the ball around at will, but the crowd demanded more, urging their team on. With six minutes left on the clock, Moutinho obliged. An Alvaro cross fell slightly behind Kleber, but the Brazilian managed to deflect the ball back and into the path of his onrushing teammate. Moutinho’s left footed rocket left Cassio with no chance, and Porto will travel to Cyprus eager for revenge and in solid shape. The result sees Porto move three points clear of Benfica at the top, with the Eagles hosting Olhanense tomorrow. Pacos remain in 11th, but could find themselves back in the bottom two by Sunday evening. Goals [1-0] Melgarejo (OG), 45’ [2-0] Kleber 64’ [3-0] Moutinho 84’ Porto: Helton; Sapunaru, Rolando, Mangala, Alvaro Pereira; Fernando, Defour (Moutinho 46’), Belluschi; Varela, Walter (Kleber 56’), Hulk (James Rodriguez 59’). Ben Shave |
Porto last year were also playing pretty poor football at this stage of the season and our fans are forgetting that. We are struggling in the champions league but if we had been in CL at this stage we would have struggled too. We had a striker that changed games last year and some games we were going to lose we had some good fortune in the start of the season to win. I can see improvement and hope it continues. It can't come soon enough if we want to go any further in CL.
Serra