FC Porto reached this Sunday the first triumph in 2025 in the I League of Football, by hitting Farense, 1-0, with a lone goal by Francisco Moura, a day after the death of Pinto da Costa.
The left -back goal, on the 48th minute, decided to meet the 22nd match of the championship, played at the Algarve Stadium, ‘House’ chosen by the Algarve to receive the three ‘big’, under strong emotional load for the portistas, who honored his Former president for more than four decades (1982-2024), who died on Saturday at the age of 87, and ended a negative cycle of five matches without winning in the race.
FC Porto continues in third position with 46 points, six from leader Sporting, and aggravated the crisis of Farense, who saw Zé Carlos be sent off at 90+9 minutes and occupies the 17th and penultimate place, with 15 points, After the fourth consecutive defeat, in a sequence of seven matches without winning in the I Liga.
With the game in the Algarve between the two play-offs of the Europa League-eighth play-off, against Roma, Martín Anselmi chose to change more than half a team on Porto, in the face of the Fifth Homemade draw (1-1) – -with the Italians, giving the ownership to Zé Pedro, Pepê, André Franco, Fábio Vieira, Danny Namaso and Deniz Gül.
The ‘3-4-1-2’ chosen by the Argentine coach showed Pepê to occupy the right flank and, more boldly, a midfield with Fábio Vieira and André Franco and without a player of more defensive characteristics, while living acting in the ‘back’ of the attack duo.
Already in Farense, Tozé Marreco kept the usual ‘3-4-3’ and made three changes in the ‘eleven’ defeated at home by the National (0-2) in the previous journey, inserting pastor, Artur Jorge and the striker Yusupha, January reinforcement that debuted the holder.
The initial minutes gave the motto to a FC Porto trying to take over the ball, with the midfielders qualified to participate early in the construction phase, trying to find the imaginative Mora and the front ahead, where Deniz Gül ‘battled’ by Duels, most of the time without success.
The ‘dragons’ even created the first hazard bid after seven minutes in an individual initiative of Fábio Vieira on the right, surpassing two opponents before being waged by Miguel Menino’s cut while preparing the completion.
But she knew how to protect the ways of her goal and filled the spaces well, without referring to a low block, which contributed to a certain balance in the match over the minutes.
By the way, after a threat from Paulo Victor on 14 minutes, even belonged to Farense the best occasion until the break, at 33, when Marco Matias focused on Yusupha’s ‘bicycle’, with the ball passing near the bar, only With response from Fábio Vieira, who threw out in the discounts (45+2).
With a set ball, FC Porto unlocked the ‘null’ in the reactive (48 minutes), with Francisco Moura responding to the first post, with a subtle touch of head, a free beaten from the right by Fábio Vieira.
The goal reassured the outsiders, who were controlling the match, facing a Farense who became more anxious and was slow to disturb the latest ‘blue and white’ stronghold, with Anselmi refreshing his FC Porto team shortly after 60 minutes.
By contrast, shortly after a Ron Lopes free to the figure of Diogo Costa, FC Porto was close to 2-0, at 72 minutes, in a shot of Fábio Vieira to the post that Rodrigo lives, with the empty goal, I knew how to enjoy a refill out.
The Portista team can also thank Diogo Costa, who, on 83 minutes, with an instinct defense, denied the right arm the goal of the tie, after heading of Claudio Falcão, in the only clear bid for danger for hosts in the second half .
The two teams, already with the complete substitutions, ended the match with 10 players, after the expulsion of Zé Carlos, in discounts, due to a very tough entry about Vasco Sousa, who had to get out of stretcher.
Declarations after the game Farense-FC Porto (0-1)
– Tozé Marreco (coach of Farense): “Let me see if I say this without being fined or punished: a foul was missing in a bid that is illegal. This is what was missing from Farense, nothing left.
Because we were absolutely competent in the first part, where we practically allowed nothing to FC Porto, with personality when we had ball, exploring the pressure at FC Porto ‘5-3-2’.
The second part begins with that thing I don’t control, that my players don’t control. There is a grab, there is a push. There is not just a grab, there is a grab and a push below. It was cheap if he was a player with no influence on the bid, being in the bid and the player who ends up dodging the goal, that’s what was missing, whistling for missing.
Because then, even at a disadvantage, we created a great defense of Diogo [Costa]which prevents the draw of the [Cláudio] Falcon, another ball from Rui [Costa] And two or three very good exits that could have led to the draw at least. The summary of the game turns out to be this.
Arbitration? I know how things work. The referees who have openness to talk realize what I will say: There is no one who respects the work and the difficulty of their work more than me.
The responsibility will always be mine, I am the face of what I control. The rest, this kind of moves, cannot control. If it’s worrying, I leave these analyzes to the experts, for those who have to do them. I have my conclusions. Today, there is no doubt.
What I ask for is a very simple thing: the criteria are uniform. If there is a grab and penalty mark, if there is a push, it has to be missed. If it was a few meters ago, as it scored many outside the area, it was missing. I don’t realize the criterion, let alone sitting in a chair. ”
– Martín Anselmi (FC Porto coach): “It was a special victory for us. I was not lucky enough to work with the former president, but I was able to know his legacy.
The club’s motto is ‘winning since 1893’, but I think since 1982, throughout the legacy and the amount of title it has left us in the windows, it still demands us more.
It was 42 years with many successes for the club and this is a victory we devoted to him and his whole family.
It is a victory that we also dedicate to us because we needed to win and worked during the game for it.
I don’t know if it was our best game, or FC Porto we want to see. But it was FC Porto that had to win and won. And from tomorrow, it is starting to work for the game with Rome.
Vasco Sousa? I don’t want to be reckless. The entrance has made impact, but there is still no diagnosis, we have to wait.
The resort is happy because we won. As I said in preview, it is increasingly difficult to win in football. Farense is a supercompetitive team, which is difficult to mark, with this defensive line of five. They are strong in the set ball, have good transitions and on the second balls.
We could have scored the second goal, we couldn’t and ended up as we ended up, with Vasco’s injury [Sousa]10 against 10, because with expulsion we also lost a player.
We are lucky enough to have players like Pepê, who can make various positions. On the right or left, the profile of the position he occupied was the same. In the first half I got it as a side, because we wanted to give João Mario some rest and Martim Fernandes is not ready yet. Gonçalo Borges was also coming to play the 90 minutes with Roma, and was worn out. If it were on the other side, we had more options like Zaidu or William. ”
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