October 04, (THEWILL) – Barcelona required a slice of luck to claim a narrow 1-0 away victory over Porto in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night.
The Catalan giants were second best for much of the contest at the Estadio do Dragao, and needed a goal against the run of play at the stroke of half-time from substitute Ferran Torres to take all three points back to Spain. The home side started brightly and went close to taking an early lead, with goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen forced into action more than once in the opening exchanges.
Porto had strong appeals for a penalty waived away when Jules Kounde appeared to foul Mehdi Taremi in the box, but referee Anthony Taylor was unmoved. As the first half wore on Barcelona began to dominate possession without creating many clear openings. Unfortunately, they were dealt a blow when striker Robert Lewandowski limped off injured 10 minutes before the break. Against the run of play, Torres, Lewandowski’s replacement, latched onto a loose pass to fire Barcelona in front just before the stroke of half-time.
Porto continued to pose problems after the restart, twice going close through Taremi and Wenderson Galeno as Ter Stegen made some important stops. The home side thought they had equalised when Taremi acrobatically volleyed home late on, but he was correctly ruled offside.
There was more drama when Taylor initially awarded Porto a penalty for handball against Joao Cancelo, only for a VAR review to overturn the decision. Barcelona held on despite Gavi’s late red card for a second bookable offence to make it two wins from two in Group H.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
