Conceição’s dragon beats old rival in the League Cup
FC Porto was stronger in a Classic that left nothing to be desired. Gabriel and Óliver in particular.
FC Porto won the Classic of the League Cup semi-final on Tuesday night. The Dragons got the better of rivals Benfica (3-1), in a game packed with good times and other so many … controversy. Sérgio Conceição’s team is now waiting to meet their opponents in Saturday’s final: Sporting or Sporting de Braga.
The game played in the Municipal of Braga had a first 45 minutes worthy of the best Classics. Intensity, search for the goal, speed, danger throws, and goals were the ingredients that did not lack to the almost 23 thousand supporters who were in the stands.
FC Porto advanced on the scoreboard for Brahimi (24 ‘), Benfica equalized after six minutes (30’) but Marega (35 ‘) put the dragons back in front of the scoreboard. Even before the break, Pizzi made the second goal of the Eagles but was eventually invalidated by the referee team.
The second part had the same intensity, but with a Porto more worried about circulating the ball and more focused on exploring the error of the commanders of Bruno Lage. Benfica, on the other hand, tried to reach the goal of Vaná, but the outputs of Gabriel and Pizzi turned out to be … fatal.
Bruno Lage’s first bet for the second half was Gedson Fernandes. The Portuguese midfielder won the Brazilian Gabriel, one of the best units of the Eagles in the first half. Despite being connected to the first goal of FC Porto, the midfielder hired to Leganés again showed why he was betting on Lage’s starter. Gabriel is a player with above average gaming intelligence. However, with Samaris taking the place of the injured Fejsa, the Brazilian end up having more defensive tasks that do not allow him to offer so much at the moment of attacking. Still, he signed a couple of initiatives that do not deceive: Gabriel has a lot of quality.
It can not be said that the team was unbalanced with the entry of Gedson. The young Portuguese is a player of great quality, although he has other characteristics that Gabriel does not have. Gedson lent more speed at the moment of offensive transition, but Benfica also lost the intelligence to know when to accelerate or manage.
Pizzi was the second sacrifice of Lage and for his place entered Castillo. Once again, the change of the incarnate technician again had no practical effects.
One of the great highlights of the Classic was Óliver Torres. The Spanish midfielder showed up at a great level in Braga. Well at the time of retrieving the ball, it is best at the time to launch the attack of the dragons. The brilliance of Óliver is only overshadowed by the importance of the goals of Brahimi, Marega and … Fernando Andrade.
The winter reinforcement, hired to Santa Clara in January, made his debut with FC Porto jersey with a finish that should have come in the soccer manuals. Fernando realized the exit of Svilar and placed the ball in the only place where it could shake the networks of Benfica. He marked, celebrated, and arranged the accounts in Braga.
Conceição has broken FC Porto’s laziness in the League Cup
In the fourth game against Benfica in the League Cup, FC Porto managed, yesterday, to start the first triumph against the old rival in this competition. Sérgio Conceição thus broke a stalemate that lasted from 2010 and thus feeds the possibilities of the dragons conquered the League Cup, something that never happened.
Data prove balance
The consultation of the table with the statistical data allows having an approximate reading about what happened in the Municipal of Braga. Benfica and FC Porto carried out a balanced game with opportunities from side to side. However, the commanders of Sérgio Conceição turned out to be more effective at the time of firing at the goal.
