FC Porto is still in the lead of Liga NOS, with teo more points than Benfica, after the victory over the derby against Boavista (2-0), at Estádio do Dragão, for matchday 27. At the end of the match, Sérgio Conceição talked of the importance of winning before the championship stops for national duty, also adressing the work of the same video referee that missed “a clear penalty on Danilo” against Desportivo das Aves.

Positive response
“We knew it was an important match after a hard week. At this club, we are not used to losing and we had to give a positive response. The players did a good job. We went in strong and scored right from the start, but Boavista also played well. The first-half was balanced, but with a better performance for FC Porto. The second-half was different, especially in terms of dominance and control of the match. In that regard, Óliver going in was important to give more consistency and balance to our midfield.”

Video referee Bruno Esteves
“Today, the video referee was looking extra closely. Too bad that this same video referee didn’t pay as much attention in Vila das Aves, when he didn’t see a clear penalty on Danilo, close to the end of the match. His attention was superb today, but that’s how it should always be. This is a positive criticism, as the video referee should always work as today.”

The importance of the midfield
“We know the midfield is an important are and that’s where we need to be consistent and balanced. We should have been more mobile in the first-half, to offer more solutions to the man on the ball. Boavista is a compact team, with strength in the midfield, and that’s why we changed that zone. We had to balance the centre and Óliver was important for that. We felt this victory was important after last week and before the championship stops.”

The championship stopping
“It will allow us to catch our breath and recover player that are injured. We need to keep improving and we will take the next weeks to work on some issues. FC Porto always has players in the national team, but we are working with those who stay.”

The group hug after the goal disallowed to Sérgio Oliveira
“It was a group hug. We are united and sure that we will give everything we have until the end of the title. For us, and for our fans, who are fantastic. We had over 45 thousand people at Estádio do Dragão and that must be praised. I want to thank them.”

A night in family
“It’s always good to have your family next to you. Tonight, we allied our blood family to our professional life, at Monday is Father’s Day, This group is very united and tight.