Santa Clara and FC Porto drew 1-1 on Saturday at the stadium of São Miguel, in a balanced match, counting for the 11th round of the I Football League, in which the Azores stopped the ‘dragons’.
With the result, Santa Clara reaches nine points and FC Porto, who have 23, may be late in striving for Benfica leadership.
The ‘blues and whites’ started the game strongly, crowned with a Logos goal in the third minute. After a free kick by Bruno Costa, Fábio Cardoso appeared centrally in the area to open the score against his previous team.
With the early goal, the national champion was comfortable in the game, started to dominate possession and installed himself in the midfield of the opposing team. Even without showing great intensity, Sérgio Conceição’s team managed to make several dangerous moves and explore the weaknesses of the Azores defense.
For example, in the 13th minute, Galeno, clear of markings in the area, failed to hit the target and shot over. In the 28th minute, the outsiders narrowly missed the advantage as Gabriel Batista made a great save with Evanilson’s shot and six minutes later it was Otávio who was close to the goal after a studied play of set pieces.
During the first half, Santa Clara focused on offensive transitions and managed to penetrate the space between the opponent’s most defensive lines, but despite some dangerous initiatives, they failed to have discretion on the final pass.
In the second half FC Porto maintained dominance of the ball, but Santa Clara managed to get to the ground and lead the game away from their area, keeping the game even.
In an uninspired spectacle from both sides, the Azores were close to scoring in the 69th minute, with a superb shot from Gabriel Silva that forced Diogo Costa into a great save.
Santa Clara did not give up the search for a draw and the goal would come in the 83rd minute. Boateng appeared to go to the back of the opponents’ nets after a corner, restoring equality on the scoreboard and rewarding the Azores team’s determination.
The ‘Blues and Whites’ threatened in the 89th minute, via a header from Taremi for a fine save from Gabriel, but the result would not change until the end.
Source: DN
