FC Porto drew for the second time this season, the first in the context of the Europa League, when traveling to Utrecht (1-1). The Dragons were losing, but equalized in the second half with a goal from Borja Sainz and were still looking for a triumph in the Netherlands, after the opponent’s goalkeeper was sent off, but the game on the fourth day of the league phase ended in a draw (1-1).
The Porto team remains more or less comfortable in the middle of the league table with seven points from four games. Compared to last season, the FC Porto has three more points in the 4th round and will host Nice in the next round, at Estádio do Dragão.
The first half was just to warm up for a second half in which they played better and had goals. Miguel Rodríguez, a Galician friend of Gabri Veiga, opened the scoring in the 48th minute, in a move with some passivity from the Porto defense.
In the 66th minute, Gabri Veiga recovered a ball in an advanced zone and served Deniz Gül for a first-time arcing shot. Vasilios Barkas saved, but, on the rebound, Spanish winger Borja Sainz had no difficulty in equalizing, firing the ball into an empty goal.
Following FC Porto’s goal, Utrecht’s goalkeeper ended up being sent off, after touching his head with Gabri Veiga, who tried to get the ball from the goal to make a quick throw-in. The Dragons were in a hurry and motivated to look for a turnaround, but the Dutch wanted to cool the game down.
The FC Porto coach could only make four changes to the game, as he started by presenting Francisco Moura as a starter and, later, it was Zaidu who appeared in the Portuguese’s place. The Nigerian was doubtful in the warm-up, but went into the game, which UEFA considered a change, as stated in the regulations.
But this did not limit the Italian coach’s actions. In the 79th minute, Farioli only moved to change striker. Deniz Gül gave way to Samu, the team’s top scorer who started the game on the bench yesterday. It was an exchange for exchange without changing the scheme, which had no effect on the scoreboard and the tie remained until the end.
isaura.almeida@dn.pt