This Sunday, FC Porto is forced not to lose against Casa Pia, in matchday 32 of the I Liga, to prevent Benfica from celebrating the title of national champion tonight after having thrashed Portimonense.
The reds lead with 83 points, seven more than the still national champions, and are thus one victory away from celebrating their 38th championship. The protagonist of this story could be Casa Pia, in position 10.
Despite the small success and the pressure to avoid an early game for Benfica, while trying to keep SC Braga from getting too close to second place, FC Porto entered the game with little desire to give in to external factors.
With André Franco replacing Otávio and a pair of forwards made up of Taremi and Evanilson who gave the three Casa Pia central defenders everything but rest, the dragons added shots from Uribe, Taremi, Evanilson, Eustáquio and even Fabio Cardoso, who came to rehearse a bicycle kick.
And if the game didn’t go particularly well for Casa Pia, it got worse when, in the 22nd minute, Neto was left on the pitch after a foul on Taremi. Evaluated by the Geese medical team, he was replaced by Taira.
Casa Pia’s best scoring opportunity came in the 43rd minute, when Soma dodged Wendell and crossed low just outside the box. Godwin came running, under pressure, and couldn’t even finish off Diogo Costa’s goal. In the next minute, the same protagonists, but with a big difference: Godwin hit the goal, but Diogo Costa hit the wall.
Only, when the ball towards the goal came from a teammate, Diogo Costa couldn’t do anything. That was what happened after 45′, when Poloni scored a free kick and Evanilson, in the confusion, dodged with his head towards his own goal.
With more than five minutes late in re-entering the second half, FC Porto returned to the pitch to play the second half with the same eleven players.
FC Porto XI: Diogo Costa, Pepê, Pepe, Fábio Cardoso, Wendell, Uribe, Eustáquio, André Franco, Galeno, Evanilson and Taremi
Casa Pia XI: Ricardo Batista, Varela, Vasco Fernandes, Zolotic, Poloni, Neto, Beni, Lelo, Soma, Godwin and Felippe
Substitutes FC Porto: Cláudio Ramos, David Carmo, Veron, Zaidu, Grujic, Rodrigo Conceição, Namaso, Toni Martínez and Bernardo Folha
Substitutes for Casa Pia: Lucas Paes, Eduardo Fereira, João Nunes, Léo Bolgado, Diogo Pinto, Rafael Martins, Tchamba, Taira and Clayton
The match referee is Manuel Oliveira, assisted by Carlos Campos and Fábio Silva. In the VAR is Rui Oliveira.
Source: TSF
