Casa Pia 1-2 FC Porto
FC Porto have returned to winning ways after defeating Casa Pia 2-1 away from home, this Sunday evening, moving back up to third in the Primeira Liga table.
The Dragons fired themselves in front on the half-hour mark through Galeno but the hosts spiked the stress levels soon after with a prompt Nuno Moreira equaliser, still in the first half.
Porto reinstated their lead in good time, however, in the second period, courtesy of an eye-catching Nico González strike that was enough to tilt the balance in the visitors’ favour, securing a 2-1 win on the road.
For the encounter, Sergio Conceição was able to welcome back Pepe for his journey to the Portuguese capital, while Claudio Ramos deputised in goal for the Blue & Whites.
The Portuguese goalkeeper was called into action almost immediately to avoid an early own goal from Otávio, meanwhile Porto’s response came in the form of a handful of attempts aimed at Ricardo Batista’s goal.
Among the most dangerous of efforts was Alan Varela’s in the 18th minute, grazing the woodwork on its way out as Porto began to assert their dominance.
Galeno made good use of Porto’s high moment to take them ahead in the encounter, 31 minutes in, as the Brazilian kept his cool inside the box to shift a defender out of the way and tap home into an empty net from João Mario’s cross.
Six minutes was all it took for Casa Pia to undo Porto’s advantage, levelling the score with a back-post volley converted cleanly by ex-Sporting youngster Nuno Moreira.
The goal set panic amongst the Porto figureheads as both Felippe Cardoso and Yuki Soma came close to completing an improbable turnaround for Casa Pia on the brink of half-time.
Porto reverted the patterns of play back in their favour coming out for the second period, earning their just reward through Nico’s clinical finish inside the box after the Spaniard cut in on his right foot and thrashed a shot into the top corner in the 56th minute.
As the game moved into its more tense period, it wasn’t until the 88th minute that Porto re-visited the Casa Pia goal with real purpose again, once more through Nico who came close to a second with a shot just wide of the mark.
Holding onto their minimal advantage, the Dragons were able to rise up and hold onto third place, following Sporting de Braga’s attempts to overtake.
By Patrick Ribeiro
Casa Pia XI: Ricardo Batista - Leonardo Lelo, Nermin Zolotic, Tchamba, João Nunes, Gaizka Larrazabal - Telasco Segovia, Neto - Nuno Moreira, Yuki Soma, Felippe Cardoso
FC Porto XI: Claudio Ramos - Wendell, Otávio, Pepe, João Mário - Alan Varela, Nico González - Galeno, Pepê, Francisco Conceição - Mehdi Taremi
