Porto on Wednesday scripted a repeat of their last month’s dominating victory over Antwerp, with the Belgian side crashing 2-0 following goals from Evanilson and Pepe. It was pretty much a one-sided match where Porto maintained about 70% ball possession and making 16 attempts at scoring with 6 shots on target.
Evanilson scored in the first half and Pepe doubled it up in the the dying moments of the match to help the team clinch the victory and secure three crucial points to retain the second spot in the Group H standings behind Barcelona.
After some slight Porto got the opening goal in the 32nd minute via a penalty which was awarded after Gyrano Kerk committed a clumsy foul on Stephen Eustaquio, prompting the referee to instantly call for a penalty spot. Evanilson stepped in to take the strike and
The Brazilian has been on fire this season, having netted a terrific hat-trick in Porto’s previous Champions League clash against Antwerp about two weeks ago in Belgium, steering his side to a dominating 4-1 victory. tucked away a 32nd minute penalty after a clumsy foul by.
Misery came knocking on Antwerp’s door when they were reduced to a 10-man squad after midfielder Jurgen Ekkelenkamp was sent off seven minutes into the second half. However, despite their numerical superiority, Porto had to wait until one minute into stoppage time for their second goal, headed home by the veteran Pepe.
Fernandes da Conceição provided a superb assist one minute into stoppage time that created the opening for the second goal for Porto and Pepe converted it in style to get his team an unassailable lead and seal the victory for good. 40 years old and still running hot, Pepe became the oldest goal scorer in Champions League history.
While Porto won their match here, Barcelona was handed a shocking 1-0 defeat by Shakhtar Donetsk at Hamburg on Tuesday, ending their unbeaten streak in this year’s Champions League. Both Barca and Porto are currently levelled on points (9), with the former having the edge due to superior goal difference. Hence, their encounter on November 28th will quite ethically be a battle for the top spot.
Antwerp’s on the other hand have a lot of things to figured out and set right as this defeat was their fourth one in a row and they are yet to win their first match in the Champions League. The Belgians are currently sitting at the bottom of the Group H standings without a single point in their kitty.
