Deniz Gul and Pepê dip in form as rivals stake their claim up front | OneFootball

FC Porto hosted Arouca and emerged victorious with a 3-1 win last Friday, extending their lead over Sporting to four points—Sporting had beaten Estoril 3-0—and consolidating their isolated leadership in the Primeira Liga. However, it was a victory achieved with much 'suffering'.

The Dragons opened the scoring in the 24th round thanks to a 'supersonic' goal by Oskar Pietuszewski, just 13 seconds in. Arouca responded, and Nais Djouahra equalized in the 70th minute, before William Gomes (with a controversial penalty) and Terem Moffi, in injury time, delivered the 'final blow' to the result, in a comeback supported by precise shots.

The goals came from players who have had limited playing time under Francesco Farioli (the case of the Nigerian international is particular: he only arrived in January with reduced match fitness due to his situation at Nice), highlighting the low productivity of the usual starters.

The most evident example is Pepê, the fourth most used player in the squad (2,397 minutes, only behind Diogo Costa, Victor Froholdt, and Jan Bednarek), who hasn't registered any direct involvement in goals since January 26, when he assisted Martim Fernandes in the 3-0 home victory against Gil Vicente.

Since then, Pepê has 'blanked' in matches against Rangers (3-1 win), Casa Pia (2-1 loss), Sporting (1-1 draw), Nacional (1-0 win), Rio Ave (1-0 win), and now against Arouca. To find a goal of his, we have to go back to December 18, 2025, in the 4-1 thrashing of Famalicão.

Deniz Gul, on the other hand, has taken the starting spot in the last three matches following the serious injury of Samu Aghehowa, but even with more minutes, he hasn't been more effective. This season he has only four goals in 29 games, with no assists; the last one was on January 22, in a draw with Viktoria Plzen.

William Gomes, Oskar Pietuszewski, and Terem Moffi 'show their teeth'

The less productive period of Pepê and Deniz Gul takes on another dimension when you realize that their direct rivals for the starting position have seized every opportunity to rise in Francesco Farioli's estimation.

Since Pepê's last direct involvement in goals, William Gomes has already scored two goals and provided an assist, while Oskar Pietuszewski has scored one and assisted another. The competition intensified even more with André Miranda's debut in the main team.

Borja Sainz was out of the game against Arouca for family reasons; the Spaniard is also going through a difficult period, not scoring since his brace in the 3-0 victory over Alverca on December 22.

As for Terem Moffi, he replaced the Turk in the last three matches and, in the duel with Arouca, scored his first goal for FC Porto with his only shot on target—just as many as his competitor managed in 64 minutes on the field.

Now it remains to be seen if the Italian coach will make changes to the offensive line for the much-anticipated first leg of the Portuguese Cup semi-finals against Sporting, at the Estádio José Alvalade, scheduled for Tuesday at 8:45 PM (Continental Portugal time).

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.