Porto 0-0 Benfica - Dragons’ winning run comes to an end after a José Mourinho special | OneFootball

Porto’s winning run ended at nine matches following a dour 0-0 draw against Benfica at Estádio do Dragão.

Pepê missed a great chance in the 34st minute and Gabri Veiga’s effort was saved by Anatoliy Trubin following a vital touch from António Silva.

Jakub Kiwior’s clearance hit the bar in the second half, the closest José Mourinho’s side came to scoring.

Rodrigo Mora came off the bench in the 90th minute and hit the bar late on, the teenager straying offside in his eagerness to make more headlines.

The result sees Porto go into the international break with a three-point lead at the top of the table, three points ahead of Sporting Clube de Portugal and four ahead of Benfica.

Porto 0-0 Benfica

It was a war of attrition from the opening minute, the first opportunity coming in the 31st minute when Pepê went going close to getting on the end of Francisco Moira's cross.

Heorhii Sudakov was then brought down by Pepê and stung Diogo Costa’s hands with the resulting free kick. Pepê continued to be involved at both ends, firing high and wide after Samu Aghehowa’s cross was unable to be cleared by Nicolás Otamendi.

The Dragons had another presentable chance before the break when Francisco Moura’s shot was blocked by António Silva, the defender doing well to get a touch on the ball before Gabri Veiga’s effort was saved by Anatoliy Trubin.

Veiga shot straight at Trubin in the 56th minute before Francesco Farioli introduced Pablo Rosario and William Gomes for Veiga and Pepê.

Benfica continued to live of scraps in the attacking third, Sudakov’s free kick flicked into the danger area where Jakub Kiwior’s clearance bounced off the bar.

Late Mora chance

Gomes couldn’t find the top corner as Deniz Gül came on for Samu and José Mourinho brought on Leandro Barreiro for Dodi Lukébakio. Chances continued to come at a premium with Alan Varela making way for Rodrigo Mora in the 90th minute.

The teenager didn’t have to wait long to get involved following a long run forward by Gül, Mora hitting the post but doing so from an offside position.

There was a minor fracas deep into added time as Porto’s frustration boiled over, Mourinho more than happy to leave his former stomping ground with a point.

José Mourinho special

José Mourinho devised a plan to prevent Porto making it ten straight wins and his team executed it to perfection. Benfica ended the contest with 0.14-0.65 expected goals, Heorhii Sudakov’s free kick that was fired straight at Diogo Costa their only shot on target.

Mourinho admitted as much after the game, saying “We couldn't go down seven points, we wanted to go down one. But as I told the players a little while ago, neither I on the bench felt like I was in a position to risk winning, nor did they.”

“It was crucial not to lose against a rival. Sporting, who also drew, on a weekend in which we ended up leaving without dropping any points to either Porto or Sporting. We’re here, we’re alive.”

“What we did in terms of organisation was fantastic, on a difficult pitch, against a difficult team, with a lot of quality, and even less easy given the current situation. We came with great responsibility, calm, and personality.”

FC Porto: Diogo Costa, Alberto Costa, Jakub Kiwior, Jan Bednarek, Francisco Moura, Gabri Veiga (Pablo Rosario, 62’), Alan Varela (Rodrigo Mora, 90’), Victor Froholdt, Pepê (William Gomes, 62’), Samu (Deniz Gül, 75’), Borja Sainz

Benfica: Anatoliy Trubin, Amar Dedic, António Silva, Nicolás Otamendi, Samuel Dahl (João Rego, 90’), Enzo Barrenechea, Richard Ríos, Fredrik Aursnes, Georgiy Sudakov (Tomás Araújo, 90’), Dodi Lukebakio (Leandro Barreiro, 79’), Vangelis Pavlidis

The tactical war inside the Clássico

PortuGOAL’s Porto correspondent José Ricardo Leite was at the Estádio do Dragão, taking notes on the tactical battle in the latest Clássico.

As the tension grew inside the Estádio do Dragão for the Clássico between Dragons and Eagles, the starting lineups could already tell us a lot. Mourinho found a way to fit into the FC Porto formation and started a clear 4-3-3 used by Farioli.

A formation that the Benfica fans were begging for, since Bruno Lage was famous for not playing wide with his wingers. However, with the likes of Sudakov playing on the left side, it was expected that he would drift into the inside of the pitch in order to find space between the Dragons’ midfield and defensive lines.

Not everything is what it looks like. The Special One opted for a classical Jorge Jesus 4-2-3-1: Rios and Barrenechea playing as a double pivot, Aursnes on the left wing and Sudakov as a pure number 10, with the mission to be the connection with Pavlidis. Farioli remained faithful to a formula that up until now only gave him wins.

Mourinho appeared with a medium block but with almost no pressure on the ball, relying on a FC Porto mistake to recover the ball. Farioli maintained the high-pressure football, valuing possession and trying to recover the ball as quickly as possible.

In fact, in the first half, Mourinho seemed like he wanted to rattle the young FC Porto team with mind games more than he wanted to play football: constant time-wasting play and conversations between both benches getting heated at every physical contact. A classic of the Special One in order to try and get a positive result.

The truth is not even with the double pivot Benfica managed to hold the midfield of the Dragons. Through the middle or on the wings, FC Porto won almost every duel throughout the first half where the home side looked far superior and Benfica didn’t manage to create a single chance or inflict any danger into the defence of the blue and white team.

The second half brought nothing new in relation to what had been the first 45 minutes, although Benfica had more of the ball compared to the first half and, due to the FC Porto players being tired, managed to go on the counter-attack more times.

Despite that, the Dragons were always in control and created more chances, including a ball that hit the crossbar from (who else?) Rodrigo Mora. An uninspired Benfica and a FC Porto that was fighting against a parked bus resulted in a nil-nil result. The blue and whites tasted for the first time this season another flavour other than victory.

Porto coach Francesco Farioli post-match

“I’m very happy with the team. The game was very tactical. It was clear that one team came here not to lose and we tried to win. In these kinds of games, if you leave yourself too open you are punished.

“The maturity the players showed on the pitch was fantastic. I’m usually very critical (of my team), but today we played like a great team. I’m very happy.”