FC Porto is still four points behind the leader of the championship, after beating Moreirense, away, 4-2, for matchday 16. Sérgio Conceição stated that the blue and whites deserved to win this “difficult and vital match”, praising the “character” of the players.

Fair victory in a complicated match
“We didn’t start as strong as usual, as we missed some passes and lacked focus in the first 15 minutes, where we appeared to be nervous. We then took control of the match, significantly more focused, scored two goals and could have scored more. We ended up conceding a strange goal, which could have affected the moral of the group, as it was a goal conceded just before the break. That didn’t happen because this group has a lot of character. In the second-half, Moreirense pretty much didn’t have goal situations, while we scored two and created opportunities for more. It was a difficult match and we deserved to win.”

Positive and negative points
“While I enjoyed the most was the goals we scored, and what I enjoyed the least was the two goals we conceded.”

Objective reached
“There is no point in looking at the past, history is history. What mattered was to write a new story tonight, and realise that we had to win a vital match for our goals, against an organized team, with very interesting players.”

Luis Díaz going in
“At the time, I thought of having a player with different features in the middle, like Otávio. I also thought that Luis Díaz could destabilize them individually, as João Aurélio had already been shown a yellow card. And I also wanted to add speed on the left wing, so I could move Nakajima to the right, cutting inside and allowing Corona to move up, getting width and depth.”

Fábio Silva and Wilson Manafá going in
“Fábio went in to play behind Tiquinho, also taking the role of third midfielder after we scored and got to the lead. Manafá added a pair of fresh legs on the right of the defence, as Bilel easily breaks the match and Corona had already seen a yellow card.”

The two centrals
“It’s never easy to go in, play and show experience and routines that only match fitness brings. They are remarkable during training and gave an interesting response tonight, in an extremely difficult match, facing a complicated line in the attack, with Fábio Abreu as a reference and speed on the wings, to take advantage of their supposed lack of routines. We look at every detail, even at the way our opponent may think.”