Given Sérgio Conceição’s ban, Vítor Bruno led FC Porto in the turnaround that ended in a 4-1 victory over Belenenses SAD at Estádio do Jamor, for matchday 18 of the Portugal Bwin League, the first of the second turn. After the 13th consecutive victory in the championship, Vítor Bruno admitted that the Dragons felt difficulties with the strong start from the home team, but, after the first 25 minutes, “the team started improving”. The leadership still belongs to FC Porto, but there is no room for complacency and “we must always be alert”.

The resume of the match
“This is a difficult pitch for us, by tradition. In the last five years, we always had a hard time winning. Belenenses SAD, whenever they started their matches at home with 11 players, only twice lost by two or more goals difference, which shows their quality. Belenenses SAD started highly aggressive and it took us a while to react to that. We conceded a goal in the first minutes and, until minute 25, we had difficulties in finding ourselves, but, after that, we started improving. We realized where to find spaces and where we could hurt the opponent. The goals came naturally and show what happened on the pitch.”

Fabio Vieira’s talent and Yaya Sithole’s red card
“The rules are there to be followed. It’s a problem that doesn’t concern us, but it comes from trying to stop players of enormous talent, as happened with Fábio Vieira in that play. Fábio Vieira reads the game as few, and he is able to see where he can make use of all his creativity and force plays like the one we saw.”

Francisco Conceição’s good start
“Francisco went in very well, as did everyone else. Francisco is a born speedster, he creates difficulties with the ball on his feet, he’s irreverent and doesn’t hide from the match, as well as being very strong in one-on-one situations.”

Bruno Costa being replaced in the first-half
“It’s painful for us coaches when we have to change the team and it’s painful to be replaced in the first-half. I’m talking about Bruno Costa, who had already been in the same situation against Sporting, in Alvalade. He deserves a word from us, as he has been an exemplary professional and our squad is made stronger by empathy and synergies. Bruno has grown a lot in the last few years and the birth of his son has also helped him a lot. He’s a human being who deserves a word from us, because it’s tough for coaches to do what we did.”

Luis Díaz’s missed penalty
“There are few words to describe Luis. He has a tremendous talent. The way he communicates with the ball is almost poetic. It could be that they saw him miss that penalty and have a reason not to take him away.”

Three points ahead of Sporting and nine of Benfica
“The gap is starting to widen for the third place, but we know, from recent past, that you always have to be on your toes. Just as we launch the team’s ability to a fantastic performance, we can also fall flat in a match or in a week. We don’t want to lose focus.”