Everything postponed another trip. Today, FC Porto beat Casa Pia (2-1) in a hard-fought game to keep alive the battle for the title with Benfica, who are still four points ahead, with two rounds to play in the I Liga. In the next round, the dragons will play first, in Famalicão, and then wait for the result of the derby – Benfica will visit Sporting (Sunday 21st).
On matchday 32, at Estádio do Dragão, the champions had to be shaken hard to wake up to the reality that they could lose the badge today. Dazed by the Benfica euphoria after the defeat in Portimão (5-1), FC Porto took the field with little determination to do the same. In the first half, the blue and white team went through a good phase, but they exposed themselves on the counter-attack and would suffer the consequences.
Casa Pia threatened twice with a run – from Godwin -, but it was a dead game moment that hurt the blues, who, due to the great possession (76%!) and the great attacking flow that arose, missed someone who cared about the game to make everything logical. Otávio was missing (he was serving his sentence, just like Marcano) and everyone saw it.
A framed shot with Ricardo Batista’s goal on 45 minutes was very little. Things would get worse in stoppage time before the break: Derick Poloni fired a free-kick close to the corner flag, Evanilson tried to deflect the ball in a defensive move, but headed it into his own goal. It was Porto’s fifth own goal of the season and the third of the day in major competitions.
An accident that frozen the Dragon and made Benfica champions if the score did not change in the second half. But Evanilson’s own goal just before half-time was the best thing that could have happened to Sérgio Conceição’s side, who only changed teams long after the break.
Strategic delay or…
The lecture was long, and the return to the field delayed the start of the second half and (of course) messed with the nerves of the opponent, who waited more than five minutes for the champion to resume the match of the 32nd round. And the game resumed without the coach or any other member of the technical team on the bench and without substitutions in the eleven.
Conceição (played his 324th game for the Dragons yesterday) continued to have faith in the team he chose to go into the game… including the hapless Evanison. After ten minutes of play, the coach put everything on the line. He sacrificed Fábio Cardoso (he lost all his duels with Godwin) to get Veron in the game and give him a role with tactics to get the tie. The coach had admitted a lack of inspiration from his goalscorers the day before, which is why the team had already won several games by the narrowest margin, but the blue and white emergency room appeared when it was most needed. Taremi equalized with help from Veron, who reacted quickly to the loss, stole the ball from Zolotic and assisted Evanilson, who saw Ricardo Batista save the shot. Veron was quick again to get the ball back and set the Iranian up for the equaliser. Taremi reached 17 goals in the championship and was given a hug by Evavanilson, who no longer had the weight of the own goal on his back.
Casa Pia was not shy, who continued to show arguments and even forced Diogo Costa to put in a top-level effort to prevent another goal for the geese, on a backward shot from Felippe Cardoso. A move that saw the Lisbon team call for a penalty for Uribe’s hand in the area. The Colombian started playing central due to the departure of Fábio Cardoso.
As the end of the match approached, Casa Pia couldn’t have the ball in FC Porto’s midfield, even after Filipe Martins’ changes, but the last touch/last shot continued to lack inspiration. The second goal came after 90 minutes… through Namaso’s knee, with a pass from Toni Martínez, two pranksters fresh off the bench to keep the blue and white team in contention for the second championship.
The title counts with two match days to go
The title calculations are easy to do and give an advantage to leader Benfica, who, if Sporting win, in the 33rd and penultimate round of the I Liga, will still be celebrating in Alvalade. While FC Porto travels to Famalicão on Saturday, the reds will already be champions on the bench if they lose and even before stepping onto the field of the Second Round rival.
If the champion wins and the declarer loses or draws, everything remains unresolved until the final round. But if FC Porto draws against Famalicão, Benfica needs a point in the last two games to mathematically guarantee the title, to be able to draw in the derby and still celebrate.
With equal points between the two teams in the 34th round, the goal difference criterion will come into play, as Benfica won at Dragão (1-0) and FC Porto at Luz (2-1) by the same margin. And in that respect, Roger Schmidt’s team also has a great advantage, as they have scored 77 goals and conceded 18, that is a positive difference of 59 goals at the moment, while Sérgio Conceição’s team has scored 66 goals and 20 against, that is, a positive difference of 46 goals, 13 fewer than the Reds.
Therefore, in the case of punctual equality….
Source: DN
