In the middle of Christmas week, the blue and white family gathered in Alverca for the first exchange of gifts of the festive season. The essential and audible support from the visiting fans was rewarded with three goals (3-0) and three points, allowing FC Porto to sit alone at the top of the table on Christmas Eve, with 43 points.

The energy that was already felt in the stands before the kick-off quickly spread to the pitch, where Rodrigo Mora - one of six new additions promoted by Francesco Farioli - was the first to create danger and Martim Fernandes shot hard for an attentive save by André Gomes in the opening minutes. The hosts retreated to their defensive midfield and kept stopping the blue and white attacks, but the tie with no goals would not last much longer.

Three minutes after scoring from a low cross by Alberto Costa, but being ruled offside, Borja Sainz jumped higher than his direct markers and lifted the thousands of Porto fans, with whom he celebrated effusively before joining his teammates in a dedication to Vasco Sousa: Samu received the ball on the right from Pepê and quickly found Rodrigo Mora who, already inside the area, crossed first time for the Spanish winger to make it count (1-0, 29m). Before half time, Diogo Costa shone with a double save to prevent Marezi and Touaizi from scoring (38m).

Alberto Costa showed signs of illness and Francisco Moura returned to the pitch. Samu forced André Gomes to make a save for a corner and was instrumental in the 2-0 goal scored by Alan Varela. In the 57th minute, the Spanish striker received the ball from Borja in the area, held off the pressure from the centre-back and passed to the Argentinian midfielder, who saw Pepê shoot hard at the goalkeeper before tapping the ball into the back of the net for the first time in 2025/26.

Rodrigo Mora and Pepê were replaced by Gabri Veiga and William Gomes, and the latter came very close to scoring in the 66th minute with a powerful shot that hit the crossbar, but the third goal of the night was saved for Borja Sainz. A few minutes after receiving his fifth yellow card in the League - which rules him out of the home game against AFS - the number 17 received the ball from Francisco Moura and, shooting directly, scored a true work of art, with the ball entering the far top corner (3-0, 69m). Eustáquio then replaced Alan Varela, then the biggest star of the match was replaced by Deniz Gül, and the score remained unchanged until the end, with the blue and white celebrations continuing beyond referee João Pinheiro's final whistle.