Sporting and Porto underwhelm
Two victories, one draw and one defeat made it a positive balance for the Portuguese representatives in the Europa League on Thursday. Ironically, the only team that lost, Vitória de Guimarães, were the side that put in the best performance, leading for most of the game in London against Arsenal before cruelly going down to a 3-2 defeat after two late goals.
Vitória’s Minho neighbours, Braga, continued their magnificent form in Europe, beating Besiktas 2-1 in Istanbul to put themselves top of Group K. A scrappy goal reflected the manner of Sporting’s 1-0 win over Rosenborg at Alvalade, while Porto also put in a disappointing display in a 1-1 draw against Rangers at the Estádio do Dragão.
Arsenal 3-2 Vitória de Guimarães
Vitória’s Europa League campaign was never going to be easy, but cruel nights like this one in London are hard to swallow.
It was a dream start for Vitória, and it had to be the former Tottenham Hotspur academy player Marcus Edwards who would score against Arsenal. The English forward showed great composure in the penalty area to finish after Víctor García’s cutback and put Guimarães ahead after just eight minutes.
Arsenal drew level just after the half hour mark when Kieran Tierney put in an inviting cross for the Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli to head home from close range. There were warning signs for Vitória when Arsenal almost scored immediately after the restart but instead it was Guimarães who got the next goal. Davidson was a handful for defenders all night and he created the second when he robbed Ainsley Maitland-Niles in midfield. Charging forward with the ball, Davidson’s effort hit the post, but Bruno Duarte was the first to react and did well to follow up with the rebound and put Vitória ahead again.
Ivo Vieira’s side performed superbly to go into half-time 2-1 ahead and forced Unai Emery in two changes at the break with Matteó Guendouzi and Dani Ceballos both coming on. However, it was in the 75th minute that the game changed as Nicolas Pépé replaced Alexandre Lacazette. The Frenchman’s main contribution to the game had been an embarrassing attempt to get García sent off.
The first freekick came in the 80th minute with Miguel Silva's poor footwork making it impossible for him to reach a well-struck effort, although in truth he may still have struggled to get there regardless. Certainly, there was nothing Miguel Silva could have done about Pépé’s second freekick. Vitória hadn’t learned their lesson and gave away a needless foul on the edge of the box in stoppage time. Arsenal’s club-record signing made the difference with a spectacular freekick to win all three points.
Vitória deserved much more from their brave performance but coach Ivo Vieira wasn’t getting carried away. “The reality is that in this competition we have three games, zero points. We feel we could have earned points in any of these games, but moral victories don’t serve us much.”
Besiktas 1-2 Braga
Braga’s impressive Europa League run has been one of the highlights of their season so far, and that certainly continued again in Turkey.
Despite the home side’s poor form, facing Besiktas away from home is never an easy task but it was the visitors who struck first. Ricardo Horta added to his impressive goal tally this season. His goal came about when Galeno forced his way through the Besiktas defence, Loris Karius was able to save the Brazilian’s shot, but the rebound fell straight to the feet of Horta to finish easily.
Braga were well in control of the game and looked comfortable but still almost managed to throw the game away in a few moments of defensive madness in the second half. Besiktas managed to equalise in the 71st minute through substitute Umut Nayir. Defender Bruno Viana failed to make an interception from Caner Erkin’s cross and presented Nayir with a gift to head past Matheus Magalhães from close range.
It looked like Ricardo Sá Pinto’s side had thrown the game away completely only a few minutes later when Pablo Santos clumsily conceded a penalty for a push that was just inside the box. Serbian midfielder Adem Ljajić stepped up to take the spot kick but his shot smashed against the post to let Braga off the hook.
The winner arrived on 80 minutes as Galeno teed up Wilson Eduardo, who had been on the pitch for just five minutes, to calmly slot home and give Braga all three points.
“It was a complicated game. We came to win, but Besiktas came out very strong, which is normal as they were playing at home”, said Ricardo Esgaio after the game. “We’re in the middle of the group stage and fortunately we’re leading. Let’s go game by game. Next is at home and we want to beat Besiktas again and go as far as possible.”
Sporting 1-0 Rosenborg
Crisis-ridden Sporting came into the match in the backdrop of a humiliating Portuguese Cup exit against Alverca and a volatile atmosphere within the club whereby much of the supporters are in open warfare against the president Frederico Varandas.
The Lions started well however, with a promising opening 20 minutes in which Luiz Phellype and Vietto came close to scoring with headers and Bruno Fernandes smacked a free kick against the bar.
Rosenborg almost snatched the lead as a mix-up in the Sporting defence saw Coates’ clearance ricochet off team-mate Doumbia towards goal, the ball bouncing against the underside of the bar before being hacked clear. The near miss boosted the confidence of the Norwegians, who grew into what became an evenly contested but largely drab match.
On the hour mark the visitors came close as Akintola’s shot deflected just wide, while at the other end Sporting’s best moments came from free kicks, with Fernandes and Mathieu narrowly missing the target.
The home side made the breakthrough in the 70th minute. Vietto’s deflected cross looped high into the air, Bolasie jumped highest to head towards goal, and a big deflection off a Norwegian defender was enough to take the ball past Rosenborg goalkeeper Andre Hansen and into the net.
A nervy Sporting held out for the victory to go second in the group, one point behind leaders PSV and two ahead of LASK in third, but another sub-par display will not bring confidence that things are improving at Alvalade. The fans gave the team their full backing during the game, but at the end of the 90 minutes there were again vociferous calls for Varandas to step down.
“We are not blind or deaf,” said captain Bruno Fernandes after the match, when asked about the fiery atmosphere surrounding the club. “Today the fans gave us their full support and it’s our job to play well so they come to the stadium and enjoy what they see.”
Porto 1-1 Rangers
FC Porto have struggled to find consistency this season and their fluctuating form took a dip against Rangers with the Scottish team on top for large chunks of the game.
Mexican right-back Jesús Corona recovered from injury and was active early on, two crosses providing headed chances for Zé Luís and Marega but neither could find the net. Fellow full-back Telles got in on the act, crossing for Luís to thump a header against the bar in the 33rd minute, but it was only a temporary reprieve for Rangers.
Colombian winger Luis Díaz worked some magic on the edge of the area, creating space for himself and curling a magnificent shot into the top corner to give Porto the lead.
Porto player ratings against Rangers
Rather than providing the springboard for Porto to go on and hammer home their advantage, the Dragons were immediately pegged back as the Scots reacted well to the setback. Colombian forward Alfredo Morelos sent a header crashing against the woodwork, but would not be denied and levelled the scores on the stroke of half time, finishing a swift break with an emphatic shot into the top corner from 15 yards out.
Rangers ended the first half on top and remained the better side for most of the second half. Only a miraculous save by Marchesín prevented the visitors from taking the lead on 53 minutes, Morelos again the dangerman with a header.
An apathetic Porto only woke up in the final minutes, and almost grabbed all three points as Rangers goalkeeper McGregor produced a brilliant double save to deny Soares and Uribe.
Porto lie third in Group G level on points with second-placed Rangers and now travel to Glasgow for the reverse fixture where a defeat could seriously compromise their chances of making progress to the next phase of the competition.
By Richard Cole & Tom Kundert
