Diogo Costa kept the goal at zero until the 87th minute. That was also how long Pepe lasted without letting his guard down against Inter Milan’s mighty forwards. Four days before his 40th birthday, the central defender and blue-white captain (played his 113th in the Champions League) left Lukaku to decide the game in shades of blue (1-0), putting FC Porto at a disadvantage for the Champions League game round of 16 second legs. And so ended the streak of 22 games without a loss for the Porto players, who will host the Italians on March 14 to decide who will go to the quarter-finals.
FC Porto and Inter Milan have more to unite than separate them. Starting with both who usually play in blue and both won the Champions League with José Mourinho (dragons in 2004 and nerazzurri in 2010) and the coaches – Sérgio Conceição and Simone Inzaghi – who played together at Lazio (1999-2000 and 2003-04). Today they met at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium in Milan, in the first leg of the round of 16 of the UEFA millionaires’ competition, which ended with Inter’s victory.
Maybe because he knows Inzaghi well, the coach of Porto bluff . The day before he said he only expected good news – referring to the seven injured players in the squad – but he entered the field with three surprises: Otávio, who played his 266th game and became the 27th player with the most appearances in FC Porto history, Uribe and Galeno returned to the team, after recovering from injury.
Diogo Costa was there from the start of the match and was the best of the dragons in the first 45 minutes. Lautaro Martínez, Hakan Çalhanoglu and Dzeko did not let the blue and white defense team breathe and when it was necessary, shirt number 99 came for the costs. It wasn’t until the 27th minute that FC Porto’s first shot of the match was recorded by Grujic. The Serb returned ten minutes later to test Onana, in a spectacular shot, after a brilliant serve from Taremi.
Two rare offensive events for the white-blue team, which ended the first half with no corner kicks in favor and no goals conceded. Diogo Costa’s bouncy reflex was worth it for the dragons to rest on zero. The Portuguese goalkeeper’s pure instinct prevented Alessandro Bastoni’s goal in the 45+3 minute.
Onana and that minute 57…
The second half started immediately with an important defeat. A relapse from Galeno forced Sérgio Conceição to make a team change. The option was to put Evanilson on the attack, but that meant that Pepê had to be deflected to the left.
Nicolò Barella almost took advantage of Porto’s inattention right after his substitution, but the gods were on the side of the blues. Without Diogo Costa in goal, the nerazzurri centimeters beyond the post.
At 57 minutes the moment how did it not come in. João Mário broke away from the defensive berths and led an offensive that didn’t end in a goal, only thanks to Onana, who saved a great shot from Zaidu and a reload from Taremi.
At the slightest sign of Porto, Simone Inzaghi refreshed the team with Lukaku (instead of Dzeko) and Gosens (instead of Dimarco) and again had more possession. came and didn’t arrive in time to get the ball into the goal. The danger passed, but even those who are not lethal grind and so Otávio was left out of the game… and the next (in Dragão, on March 14). The Porto midfielder saw his second yellow card and was sent off for the first time in his career for stepping on Çalhanoglu before the penalty area.
Again Conceição had to change the team. He sacrificed Taremi (he was incredible, in the defensive aids), the main attack reference to bolster the back sector with Wendell in the final minutes. The intention was good, but it didn’t work and Lukaku beat Diogo Costa in the 87th minute to decide the game in favor of the nerazzurri.
FC Porto continues without winning away from home in the round of 16: in 13 games it has 4 draws and 9 defeats.
Source: DN
