THE FC Porto achieved, this Saturday, what was the biggest victory of the new 2026/27 sporting season, by beating Estoril, 4-0, in a game counting for the tenth round of the I League, which was resolved by the ‘hitchhiking’ of the goals scored by Victor Froholdt, Borja Sainz, André Silva and Gabri Veiga, respectively, in the 6th, 64th, 70th and 73rd minutes.
However, not everything was a ‘bed of roses’ for Francesco Farioli, who not only was unable to count on Martim Fernandes and Francisco Moura, but also saw Zaidu Sanusi present with physical complaints, meaning he had no alternative but to replace him with João Souza at half-time. In the press conference that followed the final whistle, he himself explained what happened.
“Martim woke up this morning with a fever, so he was unable to go to the game. As for Zaidu, it is premature to make a definitive assessment in the early hours. He will be re-evaluated tomorrow. It was, above all, a precautionary substitution, opting to preserve the player. Tomorrow, we will have a clearer vision”, he stated.
“Like Martim, Francisco Moura has been ill in the last few hours. He hasn’t trained for two days and, yesterday, he only held part of the session with the group. It was, therefore, an excellent opportunity to continue Souza’s work after the recent game. All members of the squad are important and will have an impact, with priority being to recover unavailable players as soon as possible.”, he added.
This means that the Italian coach runs the risk of having the Brazilian on loan from Tottenham as the only ‘new’ left-back for the match in the fourth round of the Champions League league stage, which has the kick-off scheduled for 8pm (Mainland Portugal time) next Wednesday, at Estádio do Dragão.
“The ideal would have been to close the game a little earlier”
As for the match itself, the coach of the reigning national champions applauded the “approach” they took to it: “It was a difficult game because, naturally, we didn’t have all the necessary information to prepare it properly. We had addressed the need to be prepared for the unknown, and that’s exactly what happened.”
“When we saw the starting eleven, we saw changes in the opposing players, which allowed them to approach the match with a different structure. However, we wanted to start well. The players demonstrated an exemplary attitude and quality. We played very well in the last thirty meters, scored a beautiful goal and created many chances in the first 25 to 30 minutes”, he said.
“The ideal would have been to close the game a little earlier, but it ended up taking longer. Still, we are satisfied with the result and the performance. Now, it’s time to move on and start preparing for the game against Napoli”, he added.
“Gabriel Mec has undeniable technical quality and unique traits”
Finally, Francesco Farioli praised the performance of Gabriel Mec, who took over in the 78th minute, replacing Pepê: “He has worked very well. The minutes he has added are due to the obvious need to manage the effort of the men in front, but also to the merit demonstrated in daily training”.
“It is necessary to contextualize, he is a young man in the process of maturation, who needs to evolve physically and assimilate the mechanisms and dynamics of the team. He has undeniable technical quality and unique traits in his football. We are working with him to reach the desired level as quickly as possible”, he concluded.
