Group H of the Champions League as they beat Athletic Bilbao
2-1.
The experienced winger struck 15 minutes from time at
the Estadio Do Dragao on Tuesday to keep the hosts two points
clear of Shakhtar Donetsk, who moved into second with a 7-0
trouncing of BATE.
Julen Lopetegui's side created the better chances early on and
were rewarded when Hector Herrera opened the scoring shortly
before the interval.
The Mexico international coolly fired home after a sublime ball
from Juan Quintero, butGuillermo Fernandez's first goal since
February brought Ernesto Valverde's men level.
Quaresma eventually grabbed the decisive strike, cutting in fro
the left-hand side and firing in an effort that goalkeeper Gorka
Iraizoz failed to keep out.
Winless Athletic remain rooted to the bottom of the
group ahead of the return fixture at the San Mames Stadium
next month.
Porto showed the most attacking intent early on without initially
managing to get behind the Spanish side's defence.
It took 16 minutes for a first effort on target to arrive as
Quintero's curled strike from distance was collected by Iraizoz.
Bilbao were denied a penalty when Bruno Martins Indi clattered
into Aritz Aduriz with referee Damir Skomina instead awarding a
free-kick for a foul on the Netherlands international.
Cristian Tello dragged a shot wide for Porto seven minutes
before the half-hour mark but Athletic's Mikel San Jose came
closest in a first half of few chances when he rattled Fabiano's
right-hand post with a deflected strike from outside the area.
The Porto goalkeeper then gave coach Lopetegui a minor scare
when he flapped at Markel Susaeta's delivery, but the hosts
claimed the lead shortly before the break courtesy of Herrera's
swept finish.
After taking care to remain onside, he had time and space to
dispatch Quintero's clever pass.
Athletic pulled level 13 minutes into the second half when
Fernandez got onto the end of Benat's incisive pass before
cutting inside Maicon and beating Fabiano to restore parity.
With a draw looking likely, Quaresma was Porto's hero late on a
he registered his first Champions League goal since scoring
against Besiktas in December 2007 during his first spell with the
club.
Fabiano was required to keep out Aymeric Laporte's header late
on as Porto held out to extend their advantage at the summit.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.
0 comments:
Post a Comment