Facing the opponent and anything else that came from the outside, FC Porto beat Benfica 3-0, thanks to the goals scored by Evanilson (2) and Vitinha, and qualified to the quarter finals of the Portuguese Cup.

There is no better expression to describe FC Porto’s overwhelming start in the match than “worthy of Porto”. The Dragons scored in the first minute, with Evanilson. A long throw-in from Zaidu, Fábio Cardoso jumped higher than everyone else on the near post and the ball was sent to Mehdi Taremi. The Iranian was tackled and the ball ended close to the Brazilian, who put the ball in the back of the opponent’s net. And, shortly after, Vitinha would do the same. After a corner-kick taken by the number 20, Otávio got the ball and put it back in the area. With the ball in the air, Helton Leite punched it, but the ball went to Vitinha, who lobbed the goalkeeper.

FC Porto stood out, at this point, on the positive side, and, on the contrary, Fábio Veríssimo and Luís Godinho started to show that they weren’t up to the match. 11 minutes in, Luis Díaz was clearly pushed by Otamendi in the area, with the central defender showing no intention of playing the ball, and neither the referee nor the VAR correctly analysed the situation, so the match carried on. Benfica tried, at times, to respond to the blue and white dominance in the match and, 16 minutes in, they scored, with Darwin, but it was rightfully cancelled for offside, as the Uruguayan striker was four centimetres ahead.

Luis Díaz, in his usual way, showed why he is one of the 100 best players in the world at the moment, as elected by The Guardian, and was crucial in the third goal for FC Porto. On the 30 minutes mark, the Colombian winger cut inside from the left, left Vertonghen on the ground and, with the calm that only a top player has, passed to Evanilson for his second goal in the match.
Until the end of the first-half, the team led by Vítor Bruno (Sérgio Conceição remains banned) had several clear chances to increase the lead, but failed to score the fourth. First, Mehdi passed to Evanilson, who managed to pass to Luis Díaz, but the winger couldn’t find the way to the goal (35m). 41 minutes in, Luis Díaz (who else?) beat the opposing defence in speed, beat Helton Leite, but then tried the hardest: to pass to Mehdi Taremi.

The refereeing team insisted on taking the lead and condition the match and, 33 minutes in, decided that an intentional elbow from Taarabt on Otávio was... a foul from the blue and white midfielder. 45 minutes in, after showing that intention for several minutes, the referee sent-off Evanilson for a non-existent foul on João Mário and, in addition to taking him out of this match, prevented him from playing in the next match for the League... against Benfica.

On the return for the second-half, the blue and whites were again closer to scoring, had it not been for the post.  Zaidu, on the right wing, the Nigerian fullback crossed to the far post and Mehdi Taremi, alone, hit the post (55m). Facing a Benfica that had one more man on the pitch, but missing the mind to create danger close to Marchesín, Fábio Veríssimo took the lead by being involved in several counterproductive decisions, always against the blue and whites. Still, justifiably, Otamendi ended up getting a second yellow card and the red, after one of the many fouls on Luis Díaz. There was still a celebration for a fourth blue and white goal before the end of the match, but Fábio Cardoso was flagged offside.

With rigour, ambition, passion and plenty of competence, with the values that honour the crest and the history of FC Porto, the Dragons beat all the traps and qualified in what was an old-fashioned classic. Three goals wrapping the gift that every fan wanted: FC Porto is in the quarter finals of the Portuguese Cup.