At Estádio do Dragão, FC Porto is king. The FC Porto that belongs to Pinto da Costa, Sérgio Conceição and the thousands of fans who brightened up a memorable performance that ended in a big win in the debut of the League, against Marítimo (5-1). Taremi scored twice and Evanilson, Marcano and Toni Martínez also made it count in match 2000 for the chairman with the most titles in the world of football. This opens the 2022/23 edition of the championship for the Dragons, which is expected to end with another celebration at the Aliados.

Marítimo started the match aiming at a surprise and, in the first ten minutes of the championship, the visitors hit the post and put Diogo Costa’s attention to the test. Success in football is defined, among many other things, by what each team is capable of and, in that regard, FC Porto was again superior: 12 minutes in, Zaidu recovered the ball in the midfield and gave it to Evanilson, who assisted Taremi for the first celebration at Estádio do Dragão in 2022/23. The number 30 then scored eight minutes later, but the goal was disallowed for offside.

One of the duels in the match had Joel Tagueu and Diogo Costa as protagonists, with a clear advantage for the goalkeeper. He was brilliant in saving, with extraordinary reflexes, the goal attempt from the striker, who headed in the small area. That actually should have been the last chance for the opposing number 95 in the match, as he, having already seen a yellow card, handed the ball to stop an attempt at a quick counter-attack from Diogo Costa. The cards were instead shown to Marcano (yellow card) and Diamantino Figueiredo, from the blue and white bench (expelled).

Adversity often serves as fuel for Sérgio Conceição’s players and tonight was no exception. 39 minutes, Uribe passed to João Mário who, in a volley, crossed for Evanilson. In the penalty spot, the Brazilian made it count and put his name on the scoreboard.

The high pressure - a trademark of Conceição’s FC Porto - paid off again before the break. Pepê (playing more on the inside, leaving the wing to Zaidu) recovered on the edge of the area and the ball ended in Danny Namaso. The British failed to beat Miguel Silva, but Taremi was there to make it count, for his second goal. The start of the second-half came, and could have led to another goal, but Evanilson’s shot went just centimetres outside the post.

The determination to always get more pushed the Dragons to get a handful of goals. 68 minutes in, Zaidu passed the ball from the left, Galeno tried to shoot for goal, the ball was deflected and ended up in Marcano. The central defender headed for the fourth goal of the night. Not even ten minutes had passed and the fans celebrated in their seats again: Eustaquio passed forward to João Mário, who crossed with precision for a header by Toni Martínez (5-0). Marítimo managed to reduce the scoreboard through Cláudio Winck, but nothing undermined the five-star performance of the blue and whites.