FC Porto beaten by Aves SAD (3-1) in first game after title win | OneFootball

FC Porto stumbled away to AVS in their first match after being confirmed as Primeira Liga champions, in the 33rd-round game played this Sunday afternoon.

The final score in this clash between bottom and top was 3-1, with an unexpected protagonist emerging in Vila das Aves, in a match in which the Dragons’ Italian coach Francesco Farioli made several changes to the starting eleven and even handed out a debut during the 90 minutes.

In a balanced opening in terms of chances, AVS lived up to the promise made by João Henriques in the pre-match press conference for this showdown between opposite ends of the table, looking to make life difficult for the national champions, just as they had already done against Sporting.

The already relegated side rolled up their sleeves and ended up being the first team to celebrate in Trás-os-Montes, after Brazilian midfielder Roni opened the scoring in the 23rd minute.

Nothing else of note happened in Vila das Aves before half-time, with FC Porto ending the first half scoreless and also without a shot on target, despite nine attempts in the opening 45 minutes.

The second half did not begin in the best way for the team that had been leading, as FC Porto came out all guns blazing in heavy rain. In the 53rd minute, Borja Sainz produced an excellent individual move down the left of the Dragons’ attack and ended up dinking the ball over Adriel.

The Spaniard was already getting ready to celebrate his goal, but Deniz Gul ended up celebrating instead, as he diverted the ball on the line and ‘stole’ the clinical finish from the former Norwich City man.

The equaliser, however, did not last long, as AVS still had a ‘gem’ in store: Roni, who had already scored the opening goal, produced a masterpiece with an unstoppable strike from outside the box, five minutes after the leveller.

Right afterwards, Farioli handed another player his debut as a national champion with the first team, with Tiago Silva coming on for the first time this season after impressing for the blue-and-whites’ under-19 and B teams.

But the celebrations would belong to João Henriques’ side, who added another goal through Aderllan Santos in the 80th minute, following a set piece that left Cláudio Ramos all at sea.

Before the final whistle, FC Porto also saw Dominic Prpic, making his first start for the Dragons, sent off in the 90+2nd minute after a very heavy challenge on Pedro Lima.

With this result, AVS made it five consecutive matches unbeaten and a second straight win, moving onto 20 points in the standings after already being relegated to the second tier of Portuguese football.

FC Porto, meanwhile, saw their aim of matching the 91-point tally achieved by Sérgio Conceição in the 2020/21 season slip away, and can now finish the league with a maximum of 88 points.

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