Porto defeats Sporting in Taça de Portugal

Jesualdo Ferreira's Porto rejoice as they defeated defending cup-holders Sporting on penalties and now safely advance the next round Taça de Portugal, a title that has alluded them the previous two seasons.

The match was a spirited affair with fourteen yellow cards as proof that the rivalry is as strong as ever. Tackles were rock-solid hard and intent for victory were sealed in the faces of both clubs but it would be Porto that would leave Estádio José Alvalade as victors. While it should be without surprise, the Dragões saved their most intense performance this season for Sporting and gave it their all in a slug-fest. Sporting opened up the scoring a minute before the half-hour mark as their great striker Liedson preyed upon a poor defending clearance and headed the ball in. Making a name for himself amongst loyal supporters, ex Tokyo Verdy-man Hulk drew the match level just before the hour mark with a clever run he finished off with powerful strike. Beyond the score-sheet there was the brilliance work of Helton between the pipes and if it wasn't for his virtuoso performance the match wouldn't have went to added-time. Still through one-hundred twenty minutes a deciding goal couldn't be had and the match went down to an penalty shoot-out. Things appeared bleak for Porto as Lucho González' effort was off but through the skill of Helton shutting off Sporting's attempt, Porto took the match and moves on towards the title.



SPORTING: Rui Patrício; Abel, Caneira, Polga and Miguel Veloso; Rochemback; João Moutinho, Romagnolli (Pedro Silva, 65m) and Izmailov (Tiuí, 119m); Postiga (Yannick, 82m) and Liedson

F.C. PORTO: Helton; Jorge Fucile (Lino, 100m), Rolando, Bruno Alves and Pedro Emanuel «cap»; Lucho González, Fernando and Raul Meireles (Rodríguez, 55m); Lisandro López, Hulk and Mariano González (Tomás Costa, 46m)

Taça de Portugal

In a repeat of last years Taça de Portugal final, Porto visits Estádio José Alvalade to face Sporting. It is an twist of fate to see these two rivals drawn so early in the competition, particularly as you consider both played in tough Champions League matches earlier this week.

While the Dragões generally only release selected information before matches, Jesualdo Ferreira has been particularly tight-lipped about this and excluding the posted squad list, all commentary is media supposition or a nice way to say, building up content. For the match he has posted the squad list as below with the only change being a fully-fit Jorge Fucile returning in lieu of Cristian Săpunaru.

Bruno Alves, Fernando, Jorge Fucile, Freddy Guarín, Helton, Hulk, Lino, Lisandro López, Lucho González, Mariano González, Nuno, Pedro Emanuel, Pelé, Raul Meireles, Cristian Rodríguez, Rolando, Milan Stepanov, Tarik Sektioui e Tomás Costa,

Going into the match Paulo Bento is confident and with good reason. Besides having tremendous crowd support in defense of the being back to back winners of the Taça de Portugal they are without a doubt playing consistently better than Porto and showing signs that this is "their year." That might be a bitter pill for Port supporters but three wins in seven matches is a deplorable start and reason for concern. Domestically Porto has been terribly inconsistent and showing a embarrassing lack of commitment, losing to Leixões and Naval 1º de Maio in a manner that champions should never allow on the pitch. How this past weeks stunning victory against Dynamo Kyiv will impact them is guess work but hopefully it will be a wake-up call to not only improve performance but remember the crest they wear. While I have uttered it in the past, it's time to see Pelé more on the pitch, not simply because of his abilities but as a representative of the regional product and the obvious connection to the community.

Enjoy the match and I will report on it as it concludes.