FC Porto beat Estrela da Amadora this Monday, 2-0, in the 16th round of the championship, and took advantage of Benfica's draw with AVS (1-1) to climb to second place in the standings. Nico González, in the 12th minute, made it 1-0, and Gonçalo Borges, in the 90+3', completed the triumph for the blue and whites, who played with numerical superiority since the 74th minute, due to the expulsion of Danilo Veiga.
Vítor Bruno maintained his bet on Galeno as left-back at FC Porto, only replacing Nico González, who returned after suspension, for Alan Varela, who started on the bench. On the Estrela da Amadora side, Ferro was dropped at the last minute, due to a knee injury, with José Faria also ruling out injured Miguel Lopes and Alan Ruiz, in addition to Jovane Cabral, betting on Dramé, Tiago Gabriel, Igor Jesus and Rodrigo Pinho.
As controlled as sleepy
The first initiative belonged to Léo Cordeiro, in the first minute, but the opportunity for the opening goal was on the other side, at 3', when Fábio Vieira launched Pepê, from the left, worth the careful reading of Bruno Brígido, who left at the feet of the Brazilian. At 5', Galeno, after a cross from Pepê, headed over the Tricolores' goal.
In the 12th minute, in another FC Porto corner, taken by Fábio Vieira, the ball crossed the entire area, without anyone cutting it, until Nico González, near the second post, deflected and opened the scoring.
Estrela da Amadora's response came in the 18th minute, with Igor Jesus crossing, the ball hitting the pitch and almost deceiving Diogo Costa, who had to stretch, close to the goal line, to avoid greater harm. At 29', FC Porto once again approached the Tricolores' goal, with Pepê shooting over. At 40', there was a great opportunity for the Dragons, with Pepê serving Samu but Dramé, from 2 meters high, risking a cut on the Spanish attacker, giving way to a corner.
The game continued almost one-way, but with practically no shots on goal and drowsy, despite the support emanating from the Dragão stands, much more composed than on Thursday, in the Europa League.
Another Star, for the better
The second half started without changes in both teams, but with Estrela moving up lines. At 52' Kikas was fouled by Eustáquio in a promising position but, following the free kick, Rodrigo Pinho shot against the wall. As the hour passed, the first opportunity for Estrela da Amadora, with Kikas serving Léo Cordeiro, who shot hard, the ball deflected off Nico González and went over Diogo Costa's goal.
Sensing the team's production increase, José Faria added new blood, with a triple substitution, in the 64th minute, with Jovane Cabral, André Luiz and Bucca, replacing Kikas, Rodrigo Pinho and Paulo Moreira.
New blood and numerical superiority
The truth is that the answer came from FC Porto, with Fábio Vieira shooting in the 66th minute, after a pass from Martim Fernandes, with a goal, to an impressive save from Bruno Brígido, giving in a corner and keeping Estrela connected to the game.
Vítor Bruno made changes soon after, in the 68th minute, launching Francisco Moura and Iván Jaime in place of Pepê and Danny Namaso, allowing Galeno to move up on the left wing. In the 72nd minute, Galeno tested his aim, very out of tune, before Estrela da Amadora were reduced to 10, in the 74th minute, with Danilo Veiga receiving a second yellow card, after a foul on Francisco Moura.
José Faria, Tricolor coach, was also expelled for protests. At 76', Rúben Lima was booked, with the game losing even more quality, between fouls and several stoppages in the match. In the 77th minute, from a free kick, Fábio Vieira served Nehuen Pérez, who headed out, repeating the film, in the 78th minute, with another dead ball, for the Argentine's header and another huge save from Bruno Brígido.
For the last 10 minutes, Estrela ran out of changes, with Manuel Keliano and Diogo Travassos replacing Léo Cordeiro and Igor Jesus. The truth is that, after the expulsion, it was FC Porto threatening to make it 2-0, and Nico González, in the 82nd minute, came close to scoring twice, earning Estrela a deflection by Dramé for a corner. At 84' it was Rodrigo Mora who replaced Fábio Vieira.
At 87, however, hearts stopped at Dragão, when Rúben Lima took a free kick, Martim Fernandes deflected it and the ball went close to the post of Diogo Costa, who was beaten. At 89' Vítor Bruno ran out of changes, with Alan Varela and Gonçalo Borges replacing Eustáquio and Galeno. For extra time Dramé, Estrela's defender, moved to center forward, although Diogo Costa was no longer bothered.
Debut scoring
It ended up being FC Porto taking advantage of the tricolor risk to, in the 90+3 minutes, close out the match, with Gonçalo Borges, served by Rodrigo Mora, scoring 2-0, in what was the first goal for the Dragons' main team. .
We can't talk about little stars, because FC Porto dominated the game almost from start to finish, thus justifying the triumph, which allows them to overtake Benfica in second place in the standings, and two points behind leader Sporting.
Flashscore man of the match: Nico González (FC Porto)
