Nightmare in Vila do Conde

Matchday 4 of 2022/23 will go down in the memory of the blue and white fans and in the records of the club for the worst of reasons: for the first time in the league since January 1975, FC Porto went to the break losing by three goals - a disadvantage the blue and white only reduced in stoppage time. This Sunday, in Vila do Conde, everything went right for Rio Ave and everything went wrong for the National Champions. In six shots, the home team scored three goals, while in 24 (one of them from penalty), the Dragons only managed the one scored by Toni Martínez.

Playing with the same team that started against Sporting, Rio Ave gave a warning shot right from the first minute, forcing Diogo Costa to a good save into a corner. Evanilson tried to reply from distance, but his aim was off, and the opening quarter hour was played at a high pace without any other opportunity worth mentioning. The home team opened the scoreboard 22 minutes in, confirming the good moment in the match and taking advantage of the visitors' passivity to make it 1-0. 30 minutes in, Evanilson scored, but he was offside. In the following play, the home team increased the lead when Pedro Amaral came up alone in the far post to finish a play on the right wing. On the other end of the pitch, Pepê received, turned and shot outside the net after a short corner, but the worst was yet to come: a cross from the left and Aziz scored again, this time with a header (3-0).

Halftime came and FC Porto had committed only one foul. On the return for the second-half, João Mário, Bruno Costa and Evanilson were replaced by Galeno, Gabriel Veron and Toni Martínez. After disregarding a hand on the ball from a home defender in a play with the Spanish forward, Tiago Martins was called by VAR to review the footage of a cross intercepted by Costinha's arm. Called to the penalty spot, Mehdi Taremi hit the bar and missed the penalty. The team led by Sérgio Conceição were playing completely in the opposing midfield, shot a lot, but with little success, and only caused real danger after the hour mark, with André Franco replacing Marcano and Danny Namaso replacing Taremi. In the third of the eight minutes of stoppage time, Toni Martínez scored from a cross from Pepê (3-1) and, immediately after, Otávio just missed the target in good position. It was not a night for FC Porto. Next up is a trip to Barcelos to face Gil Vicente (Saturday, 20h30).

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