Uninspired display but where the essence is achieved. This was the image of the 2-0 victory of champions FC Porto this Sunday against a Vizela of good principles and organization, but who eventually fell victim to an individual foul on the edge of the break. A goal to end each half came and was enough for the Dragons to retain second place in the I Liga before visiting Alvalade (albeit with a midweek break in Viseu, for the Cup), in a match that counted towards the 19th. with Wendell injured with some seriousness.
For a game in which both Sérgio Conceição and assistant Vítor Bruno could not sit on the bench because he was sent off in Funchal, FC Porto had to do without Eustáquio, still injured, and, more importantly, Otávio, who was injured. on the last journey. Bernardo Folha, who was sent off against Marítimo, was also unable to be on the field on orders from Siramana Dembelé, responsible for leading the team on the ground.
On the other hand, Manuel Tulipa, who led the main team of the Vizelensen for the eighth time – he who trained as a player in the dragons – made only one change in relation to the victory against Rio Ave: central Anderson Jesus, who is serving punishment for seeing the fifth yellow card, he gave his place to Ivanildo Fernandes.
Entering the field knowing that the Sp. Braga had won their match, as had leader Benfica, the league champions left Uribe and Grujic in central midfield, with Pepê and Galeno on the wings and the Taremi-Evanilson duo in attack. Faced with a Vizela who had shown himself to be a tough opponent in Alvalade (as in Luz, even with Álvaro Pacheco), FC Porto were determined to score again early and boost their streak of six consecutive wins by pressing high and the opponent for your defense. And after five minutes the goal was almost a fact, after a corner kick that Uribe headed close to the crossbar by Buntic.
However, Vizela quickly managed to put water into the blue and white boil. With Raphael Guzzo in the spotlight in the midfield fight, Tulipa’s team managed to prevent FC Porto from reaching their area of danger, demonstrating that the absence of Otávio, a defending player who sets the pace and becomes unbalanced, has a high price on the team. maneuver. Uninspired, the blue and white did not create any chances and saw the opponent leave until the last third, even though he was usually harmless. In the penalty area, Sérgio Conceição showed his displeasure, gave constant directions to the bench and it was only a matter of time before the 38th minute to see a boxed shot: a header from Grujic, which Vizela’s Croatian goalkeeper took down effortlessly.
In the profit is the profit
At halftime, however, an individual error made the difference. Igor Julião tried to play inland, where Galeno disarmed him. The ball reached Evanilson who, catching Vizelle’s defense on foot, centered for Pepê to cross and make it 1–0 (41″) without any problems in what was his fourth goal of the season. Shortly after, a good conversion from a fine pass from Taremi put the visiting defense in trouble again, but Bruno Wilson cleared the danger there and halftime came with the men of the house minimal advantage, despite a discolored performance.
With no changes to the elves, the second half began as a mirror of the first. FC Porto uninspired, Vizela well organized but unable to deter the attack and made another mistake on the way out that almost gave the dragons the second goal: this time due to a bad pass from Guzzo, from which Pepê took advantage to ask Evanilson and Buntic defended the Brazilian’s deflection very well (51″). Shortly after, another setback for the men of the house: Wendell injured himself and had to leave on a stretcher, to make way for Zaidu, a another man who returned injured after a few weeks (55″).
With the result at the minimum margin, Tulipa took risks and put more men in the lead, but the truth is that Vizela couldn’t create a single goal. And against teams of FC Porto’s individual quality, there is always the risk that an inspired move could destroy the match: that’s what happened at 86″, when João Mário took off like a rocket on the right and low center, for Taremi to shoot first and seal the dragons’ seventh straight victory in a match not to be missed – except for Vasco Sousa, who still had a few minutes left to make his debut in the main team of FC Porto.
Source: DN
