FC Porto ended a streak of two matches without winning, beating Farense 1-0 in Algarve, for matchday 15 round of the championship. The triplet holders are now alone in the second place in the table, two points ahead of Benfica.

On the night that signalled the return to official matches for Otávio, recovered from Covid-19, FC Porto showed motivation right from the start. Playing at Estádio de São Luís for the first time in almost 19 years, the national champions created danger five minutes in, in a highly technical move from Corona that ended with a shot at the goalkeeper from Marega. It didn’t take long for the scoreboard to show the blue and white superiority, with two new faces in the starting team creating the 1-0: on the right, Manafá used his usual speed to leave Fábio Nunes behind and passed to Taremi, who, free from marking, scored (15m). Confident, the visitors continued to apply pressure and, in less than ten minutes, had three good chances to increase the advantage, through Corona (26m), Marega (27m) and Otávio (33m).

The Lions of Faro attempted some approaches to the goal defended by Marchesín, but without any real danger. The break was fast approaching when Stojiljkovic found space in the blue and white area, but Mbemba was there to put on some pressure and the shot ended up going too high (38m). Just before the break, another good attempt for the blue and whites, led by Corona and finished with a header from Zaidu, almost increasing the advantage for the team led by Sérgio Conceição (45+2m).

The second-half was similar to the first, with a strong display of dominance for the blue and whites. Still, Marchesín was the first goalkeeper having something to do, with Stojiljkovic heading the cross from Alex Pinto. After that, the team from Porto could have ended the resistance of the opponent in several moments. Uribe’s shot (50m) was followed by Taremi’s (51m) and Corona’s (57m), with the Mexican dribbling Alex Pinto and Bura brilliantly, only being stopped by Cássio Scheid, who, in the area, deflected the ball with his right hand, a situation that Manuel Mota didn’t deemed as worthy of a penalty. Shortly after, Otávio (60m, 65m) had two more clear chances to make it 2-0.

Despite the great offensive production, the blue and whites didn’t score the second goal and were lucky on 80 minute, with the ball hitting the post twice. Mbemba almost scored an own goal and Hugo Seco almost picked up the spare to tie the match. Until the end, Cláudio Falcão scared Marchesín twice (81m, 90m).

FC Porto will play again next Friday in Barcelos. The quarter-finals of the Portuguese Cup starts at 20h45.