FC Porto was ahead of the scoreboard almost until the end of the Classic against Sporting, in Alvalade, for matchday four, but conceded a goal in the last minutes, and lost two points. Sérgio Conceição talked of a “good match” for the Dragons, regretting, however, the lack of “aggression” from the team, which led to the loss of “two important points”.

Lack of aggression
“We wanted to win here and prepared the match for that. It was a good match, a great first-half, with a lot of intensity, and many good moments. We had many opportunities to score several goals. The opponent had some opportunities that came when we made some individual mistakes. In the second-half, we gave Sporting the initiative on the match. In the first 15 minutes, we lost some balls moving from the defence to the attack, which we normally don’t do. And then, when one or two players in the starting team started to get tired, we changed a few elements, but we didn’t improve. Taremi could have scored right after going in, and we had one or two chances to make it 3-1, but we couldn’t do it. We lacked aggression, which isn’t normal, especially in the newer players, which aren’t fully integrated yet. People often ask why we only use the players who have been here for longer, and this is the answer, we lacked aggression going on the attack right before conceding the goal.” 

Importance of the blue and white identity
“We often disregard our championship and the players we have. Everyone needs to realise we have good players, good coaches, and competitive teams, and that’s why we have to work hard. It takes some time to understand the identity of FC Porto, and those who don’t understand it don’t belong in the group.”

Disappointment
“We played a good match, but I’m disappointed. Sporting might be happy for tying the match, I’m disappointed because I lost two important points.”