Portimonense 1-5 Porto
Porto were allowed to score almost at will before Portimonense grabbed a late consolation goal as the title favourites swept the top division newcomers aside in the Algarve last Sunday evening.
A sold-out municipal stadium saw manager Vítor Oliveira’s men come under pressure from the word go and it only took 10 minutes for the unmarked Marega to meet Soares’ cross first time and open the scoring with ease. Shortly afterwards, the scorer turned provider and set up Otávio for an equally straight forward second.
Portimonense did attempt to find a way back into the match during the remainder of the opening half, but some good possession play creating several half-chances was quickly undone when Maxi squared the ball for Marega to put away his second and the third for Porto overall just before the interval.
Portimonense keeper Ricardo Ferreira was called back into action immediately after the re-start and did well to keep out renewed efforts from Marega and Otávio until comprehensively beaten by a Soares header on the hour mark.
Ferreira excelled again when stopping Soares from scoring his second minutes later, but the home defence left him cruelly exposed once more as Brahimi swept in Diogo Dalot’s pin-point pass for Porto’s fifth of the night.
With the game now well out of their reach, Portimonense finally managed to get on the score sheet in injury time as Lucas headed past Casillas from a Tabata free kick.
Following what players described as ‘a night to forget’, the manager tried to remain upbeat. “We are disillusioned with the result and our performance,” Oliveira said, “but we must not forget all the good things we have already achieved this season”.
While the likes of Porto and Benfica may still be out of reach in terms of quality, experience and class, Portimonense have shown that they are more than capable of holding their own against clubs outside the top four, and it is hoped that a return to winning ways is on the cards as soon as Monday when Aves provide the opposition.
By SKIP BANDELE
Photo: Portimonense coach Vítor Oliveira tried to remain upbeat: “We must not forget all the good things we have already achieved this season”
