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Portuguese League: FC Porto-Paços de Ferreira (Match Report)

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FC Porto 4-0 FC Paços de Ferreira (Estádio do Dragão), 5 November 2022 – match report below

Line-up (4x4x2): Diogo Costa, Rodrigo Conceição, Fábio Cardoso, Marcano, Wendell; Uribe, Eustáquio, Otávio, Pepê; Taremi, Evanilson

Also played: João Mário, Grujic, Galeno, Gonçalo Borges and Toni Martinez.

The ‘demons’ of post-Champions League draws in the Portuguese League were very much present when this game started. I think even more so after the early goal, given what had happened last weekend. But this time Porto were very solid and never let up. Outside of one chance early in the first-half, Paços de Ferreira never looked like they could score. A very competent performance against an opponent we should be beating with relative ease.

Portuguese League: FC Porto-SL Benfica (Key Takeaways)

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FC Porto 0-1 SL Benfica (Estádio do Dragão), 21 October 2022 – key takeaways below

Line-up (4x4x2): Diogo Costa, Pepê, Fábio Cardoso, David Carmo, Zaidu; Uribe, Eustáquio, Otávio, Galeno; Evanilson, Taremi

Also played: R Conceição, Wendell, Veron Toni Martinez.

What a let down. Benfica left Porto with the 3 points after a hard fought game, with little football being played and a fair amount of refereeing controversy. Despite playing for over an hour with just 10-men, I don’t think Porto were inferior to Benfica and a draw would have been the correct score. At the end of the day though, Eustáquio got sent off, Bah didn’t, Porto were all heart and little brain, and Benfica scored one. That’s really the summary of this game.

Portuguese League: FC Porto-SC Braga (Match Report)

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FC Porto 4-1 SC Braga (Estádio do Dragão), 30 September 2022 – match report below

Line-up (4x3x3): Diogo Costa, Rodrigo Conceição, Pepe, David Carmo, Wendell; Uribe, Eustáquio, Bruno Costa; Pepê, Taremi, Evanilson

Also played: Zaidu, Grujic, Otávio, Galeno and Veron.

We’re back in business! After a series of bad results leading into the 2 week break, Porto really needed to win last night – it didn’t matter how, they just needed a win. And they got one. A convincing one at that. Porto weren’t as dominant as the final score may suggest, but they were the better team overall and deserved to win.

Portuguese League: GD Estoril Praia-FC Porto (Match Report)

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GD Estoril Praia 1-1 FC Porto (Estádio António Coimbra da Mota), 17 September 2022 – match report below

Line-up (4x4x2): Diogo Costa, Rodrigo Conceição, Fábio Cardoso, David Carmo, Zaidu; Uribe, Eustáquio, André Franco, Pepê; Taremi, Evanilson

Also played: Grujic, Galeno, Veron, Loader and Toni Martinez.

The woes continue. Another horrible first-half resulted in Porto being down at half-time. It was only 1 goal, but could have been more. Lack of aggression, bad individual mistakes and some puzzling tactical decisions have resulted in Porto looking like a really ordinary team. However, the key issue is really roster construction. There is a gaping hole in midfield and this is not going to be resolved until, most likely, next season.

Portuguese League: Gil Vicente FC-FC Porto (Match Report)

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Gil Vicente 0-2 FC Porto (Estádio Cidade de Barcelos), 3 September 2022 – match report below

Line-up (4x4x2): Diogo Costa, Pepê, Pepe, David Carmo, Wendell; Otávio, Uribe, Eustáquio, Galeno; Taremi, Toni Martinez

Also played: J Mário, Veron, Go Borges, D Loader, Evanilson.

After the horrible loss at Rio Ave, Porto needed to show something different. A different game plan, with different players and hopefully a different outcome. For the most part, last night we got exactly that. A very competent first-half effectively ended the game, with two goals before half-time. A good performance overall and a sign that there is a way forward for this team.

Portuguese League: Rio Ave FC-FC Porto (Key Takeaways)

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Rio Ave FC 3-1 FC Porto (Estádio dos Arcos), 28 August 2022 – key takeaways below

Line-up (4x1x2x1x2): Diogo Costa, João Mário, Pepe, Marcano, Zaidu; Uribe, Bruno Costa, Otávio, Pepê; Taremi, Evanilson

Also played: André Franco, Galeno, Veron, Danny Loader and Toni Martinez.

What a disaster. There is no other way to describe this match other than utter disaster. Porto came out flat, conceded 3 goals in a 20min span in the first-half, and dug too big of a hole to claw back from in the second-half. The warning signs were there from the beginning, and I had pointed these out several times (dating all the way back to the last friendly against Monaco, which you can read here), but the results up to now helped mask most of these issues. No more.

Portuguese League: FC Porto-Sporting CP (Match Report)

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FC Porto 3-0 Sporting CP (Estádio do Dragão), 20 August 2022 – match report below

Line-up (4x1x2x1x2): Diogo Costa, João Mário, Pepe, Marcano, Zaidu; Uribe, Bruno Costa, Otávio, Pepê; Taremi, Evanilson

Also played: Wendell, Eustáquio, Galeno, Veron and Toni Martinez.

The first ‘Clássico’ of the season ended with a categoric Porto win, as the Portuguese champions beat Sporting 3-0 last night. Porto are now 5 points clear off Sporting in first place, which is an important advantage so early in the season. I have to admit though, the final score is very flattering, because Sporting were the better team for large portions of the game. Porto capitalised on Sporting’s mistakes and should have scored a fourth game (Veron’s goal should have stood), but these mostly resulted from poor defending rather than great attacking play.

Portuguese League: FC Porto-CS Marítimo (Match report)

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FC Porto 5-1 CS Marítimo (Estádio do Dragão), 7 August 2022 – match report below

Line-up (4x1x2x1x2): Diogo Costa, João Mário, Pepe, Marcano, Zaidu; Uribe, Grujic, Pepê, Danny Loader; Taremi, Evanilson

Also played: Eustáquio, Galeno, Veron, Gonçalo Borges and Toni Martinez.

Porto starts off the new league season with a dominating win over Maritimo, a team that usually gives us problems. The final score was 5-1, but I found it a little flattering – it could have been a lot closer if Marítimo had taken their early chances.

Preview of 2022/23 Portuguese League

2nd August 20225th August 2022 Adil_FCP3 Comments

The season 2022/23 season started last weekend, with Porto beating Tondela in the Portuguese Supercup final. The new league season is now upon us, with the first Portuguese League match being played this Friday, as Benfica takes on Arouca at home (Porto will be facing Maritimo on Saturday). This post is a preview of the 2022/23 season, where I have set out my expectations for Porto and our main rivals, and what I believe the final outcome may be.