THE FC Porto suffered, this Tuesday, another defeat in the Champions League. This time, against the Dutch PSV (0-1), in a game on the 3rd round of the single league phase. Farioli’s dragons once again found it difficult to deal with an opponent who pressed high and continued without gaining any points in the million-dollar competition.
The game film
FC Porto came out wanting to score early and even had opportunities to do so in the first 10 minutes. The first big opportunity was wasted by Oskar Pietuszewski who, after an incomplete save by the PSV goalkeeper, ended up not directing the ball in the best way.
PSV reacted, pushing FC Porto through high pressure and wasting no time in threatening Diogo Costa. In the 16th minute, Mauro Júnior shot dangerously, but the ball went wide of the FC Porto goal.
From here on, the game became more balanced, with a lot of fight in midfield. The minutes passed and both teams tried to take advantage of their opponents’ weaknesses, but without much success. Even so, PSV seemed to be slightly stronger in pressing, pushing FC Porto back on the field.
FC Porto’s danger almost always came from the left aisle, through Pietuszewski’s feet. In the 36th minute, the Polish winger again gained space on the flank, but continued to show a lack of aim, shooting over the Dutch goal.
After six minutes, a huge scare at Estádio do Dragão, Alberto Costa misjudged the late pass to Diogo Costa and left Kostic in the face of the goal. The Serbian international came very close to breaking the deadlock, but his shot hit the post and went out.
Half-time arrived and the score was 0-0, somewhat naturally, on the scoreboard.
FC Porto came back hungry in the second half and in the 48th minute they were on the verge of taking advantage. Pablo Rosario risked a shot outside the penalty area and the ball almost hit the bar.
However, as had happened in the first half, PSV’s dominance emerged again and in the 57th minute there was another scare near the FC Porto goal, with the post once again saving Diogo Costa.
It was the third time and Guus Til opened the scoring soon after, putting PSV ahead at Dragão, after the Dutch team’s insistent move.
Farioli wasted no time and made a triple change straight away: Borja Sainz, André Silva and In-Beom went into play, yielding Samu, Pietuszewski and Gabri Veiga.
Farioli’s changes brought some spark to FC Porto, but without great offensive results. In the 69th minute it was Zaidu’s turn to leave to make way for João Souza, who officially made his debut for the blue and whites.
In the 72nd minute, FC Porto had a great opportunity to equalize, but neither André Silva nor Froholdt had the right aim to take advantage of the golden opportunity. In-Beom left the Portuguese in front of the goal, but shot at Kovar and on the rebound Froholdt was already preparing to celebrate, but saw Geertruida give the ‘chest to the bullets’.
Soon after, another blatant opportunity, with Alberto Costa managing to pass the ball over Kovac, but Dest managed to cover the goalkeeper’s mistake and avoid the Porto goal.
Despite the physical breakdown, PSV managed to hold on to their minimal advantage and leave Dragão with their first victory of the season in the Champions League, at the same time imposing the third consecutive defeat on FC Porto.
The Dragons remain at the bottom of the general classification, without any points collected in three games, like Slovan Bratislava, and will return to action in the Champions League on November 4th, with a home match against Napoli.
Game time: The failures of André Silva and Froholdt ended up taking a heavy toll on the FC Porto players. If he had scored, Francesco Farioli’s team could even dream of completing the comeback…
