Dragão draws at home and marks a step forward in the fight for the title; dominance was not enough to win the three points against an ultra-defensive Rio Ave.
FC Porto marked a step forward in the fight for the title, failing to overcome an ultra-defensive Rio Ave at home, who managed to gain an important point in the titanic fight for permanence. Sérgio Conceição’s team dominated the match, with two goals disallowed, a penalty reversed and a good shot on the crossbar, as well as an inspired performance from Jhonatan, one of the best on the field that night at the Estádio do Dragão.
FC Porto was unable to find an antidote to overcome Rio Ave’s compact defense, which presented itself at the home of the blue and whites with a purely defensive posture, seeking, as it managed, to bring water to its mill. The Dragons were always on top of the opponent, but were not effective in finishing, given such an offensive flow.
With this draw, FC Porto risks digging a bigger gap between the two Lisbon rivals, with Benfica only playing tomorrow and Sporting having a delayed game against Famalicão due to a lack of policing.
Review the events of the meeting below:
END OF THE GAME IN DRAGÃO WITH A NULL
FC Porto marks a step forward in the fight for the title, by losing two important points that could leave the Dragons a greater distance behind their Lisbon rivals. Rio Ave fought hard and won a precious point in the fight to stay in the League.
Dramatic finale at Dragão. Despair from the Porto team trying to reach the goal.
90+3′: Great save from Jhonatan to deny Alan Varela the 1-0.
90+2′: Boateng is sent off for accumulation
Seven minutes of compensation.
90′: Francisco Conceição leaves and Danny Namaso enters.
The changes don’t seem to improve the FC Porto team.
85′: João Mário leaves and Gonçalo Borges enters.
84′: Yellow card for Boateng.
FC Porto insists, they already have 19 corners in the match.
78′: Tanlongo leaves and Vítor Gomes enters.
77′: Yellow card to Jhonatan.
75′: Double change at FC Porto: Iván Jaime and Toni Martínez enter and Galeno and Nico González leave.
70′: João Teixeira left and Úmaro Embaló entered.
Sérgio Conceição prepares changes.
69′: Galeno’s gibberish shot wide.
68′: Yellow card to Galeno.
A lot of nerves in the Dragão stands with the score 0-0.
64′: Yellow for Tanlongo.
61′: Pepê shoots a lot from above from a good position.
58′: Miguel Nóbrega leaves (in yellow) and Patrick William enters
39,330 spectators at Dragão tonight.
50′: Evanilson takes paint from Jhonatan’s right post. Francisco Conceição created chaos, but the Brazilian was unable to score! Shot is deflected.
Tenth corner for FC Porto.
THE SECOND PART BEGINS.
Luís Freire wastes no time and makes two substitutions at half-time.
Luís Freire is ready to make two changes: Vrousai and Aziz come in and Joca and Fábio Ronaldo leave.
Teams return to the pitch.
BREAK IN THE DRAGON WITH A NULL (0-0)
First half of complete dominance by FC Porto, who scored two goals, but they were disallowed for offside. Rio Ave’s defense has been quite compact. We have a game for the second half!
Five minutes of compensation.
44′: Big header from Miguel Nóbrega, when Pepê was getting ready to score.
40′: FC Porto scores again, but the shot is canceled for offside.
38′: Aderllan is great. New providential cut and still wins the goal kick.
36′: Yellow card for Miguel Nóbrega.
33′: Another good save from Jhonatan, again from Francisco Conceição’s shot.
32′: Now it’s Josué’s turn to make a big cut in the large Rio Ave area.
30′: Anderllan Santos shined again, denying Evanilson the goal.
28′: Almost a goal for FC Porto. Francisco Conceição hits the bar!
Rio Ave controlled the dragons’ initial momentum.
20′: Yellow card for João Mário.
19′: Great involvement from FC Porto, Evanilson shoots for the goal, but Aderllan Santos deflects it with his body for a corner. Almost 1-0.
Sérgio Conceição and Luís Freire take the opportunity to correct positions.
Diogo Costa assisted on the pitch after clashing with Boateng.
15′: João Teixeira’s shot almost scores a goal for Rio Ave, but the ball went close to Diogo Costa’s goal post.
10′ Goal disallowed against FC Porto for offside. Galeno had scored, but VAR indicated that he was offside by four centimeters.
Pepe reaches 250 games in the Portuguese League. He made his debut in 2002 for Marítimo, in the draw (0-0) at Barreiros against Boavista.
6′: Evanilson at full throttle. The forward turned to the left, looking for Galeno, but the pass was intercepted. There is a corner, on the left, for FC Porto.
FC Porto with a strong start to the match.
António Nobre is analyzing the images, after being called by VAR Fábio Melo. The referee reverses the move and gives Evanilson a yellow card.
Porto striker fell in the Vila-Condense area in the 3rd minute
3′: Penalty for FC Porto, Evanilson knocked down in the Rio Ave area.
3′: First shot of the match, by Galeno, but by Jhonathan.
Claque SuperDragões pulls for the team, without its leader, Fernando Madureira, detained following Operation Praetorian.
STARTS THE GAME ON DRAGÃO!
Rio Ave kicks off. António Nobre whistles.
Teams enter the field, with more than 30 thousand fans in the stands. The FC Porto anthem is heard.
Hector Herrera is visiting the Estádio do Dragão.
Granddaughters surprised their grandmother, a Porto fan at heart.
A game at Dragão is always special ???? This one even more so for:
????Grandmother Lina, who four granddaughters wanted to bring to Dragão
???? Mrs. Alice and Mr. Carlos, from the “Asas de Ramalde” day center, who fulfill their dream of coming to Dragão#FCPRAFC pic.twitter.com/kSgL3lh5M9— FC Porto (@FCPorto) February 3, 2024
Dragon Lawn in good condition.
Sérgio Conceição does not count for this match with the injured Grujic and Marcano, nor with the internationals Taremi and Zaidu. In turn, Luís Freire is without the injured André Pereira, nor the suspended Oudrhiri.
This will be the 70th official meeting between FC Porto and Rio Ave. The Vilacondenses have not won at Dragão, in the League, since 1981. In any case, they managed to draw in March 2020.
In the vicinity of the Stadium there are appropriately dressed women offering invitations to the ceremony to present Pinto da Costa’s re-candidacy tomorrow, at 5 pm, at the Coliseu do Porto.
FC Porto is also already exercising on the Dragão pitch.
Rio Ave has also taken to the pitch for the warm-up period.
FC Porto goalkeepers are already warming up.
Despite the reduction in personnel, FC Porto-Rio Ave will actually take place.
Of the 200 PSP police officers deployed to Estádio do Dragão, 40 were discharged.
Rio Ave substitutes: Miszta, Patrick, Vitor Gomes, Ruiz, Umaro Embalo, Vrousai, Helder Sa, Ze Manuel and Yakubu Aziz.
Eleven do Rio Ave: Jonathan; Miguel Nóbrega, Santos and Josué; Costinha, João Teixeira, Tanlongo, Joca and Fábio Ronaldo; João Graça and Boateng.
Substitutes for FC Porto: Claudio Ramos, Eustaquio, Ivan Jaime, Namaso, Andre Franco, Romario Baro, Toni Martinez, Otavio and Gonzalo Borges.
FC Porto’s eleven: Diogo Costa; João Mário, Pepe, Fábio Cardoso and Wendell; Alan Varela and Nico González; Francisco Conceição, Pepê and Galeno; Evanilson.
THERE ARE ALREADY ELEVEN!
Lack of police personnel led to the postponement of Famalicão-Sporting, and there is still doubt as to whether there is a green light for the game to be held at Dragão.
PSP is calling for a boycott of the FC Porto game, according to SPORT TV. The game is scheduled for 8:30 pm. but may be postponed.
The figure of Rio Ave: Boateng
Another game, another goal for the Ghanaian striker, this time against Estoril, last Wednesday. Vila-Condenses’ top scorer this season (with 5 accurate shots) knows what it’s like to score against the blue and whites: in 2017, when he played for Moreirense, he scored a goal and two assists in the canons’ triumph against the Dragons (3- 1).
The figure of FC Porto: Evanilson
There is no escaping the Brazilian’s monstrous numbers in recent matches: seven goals in four games. The 24-year-old striker’s explosion promises to not stop here. In this new version of Sérgio Conceição’s FC Porto, in which Pepê appears closer to the former Fluminense striker, performance has risen exponentially. In Taremi’s absence, still in the Asian Cup with Iran, Evanilson has gained prominence and is, at this point, the Porto players’ biggest threat to the opponent’s goals.
Remember here what the two coaches said:
The coach projected the meeting with Rio Ave, where he discussed several current topics, from its renewal, Operation Praetorian, the arrival of reinforcement Otávio and also the exhibition level and recent results of FC Porto
Rio Ave coach praises the Dragons’ recent form, but guarantees that Vila-Condenses will “compete for the three points”
Starting at 8:30 pm, FC Porto and Rio Ave face off at Estádio do Dragão, in Porto, in a meeting related to the 20th round of the League. With 44 points, the Dragons are trying to maintain their pursuit of leader Sporting and second-placed Benfica. For its part, Rio Ave wants to add points to make a jump in the standings and distance Vila Condenses, who were very active in the winter transfer market, from the waterline. The match will be refereed by António (AF Leiria), who will have Paulo Brás and Nélson Pereira as assistants. Fábio Melo (AF Porto) will be at VAR and Sérgio Jesus (AF Porto) at AVAR. Carlos Macedo (AF Braga) will act as fourth referee. Follow the game’s incidents live with A BOLA. Here!