Fortress Dragão: Farioli keeps FC Porto defence rock solid at home 🏰 | OneFootball

Francesco Farioli joined FC Porto with the reputation, among other characteristics, of being able to ensure defensive solidity – he had finished the French and Dutch championships, while at Nice and Ajax, with the best defensive lines. Taking charge of a team that had shown vulnerability in the previous season, the 36-year-old coach started by strengthening the defense, focusing on the center with Bednarek first and then Kiwior, a Polish duo with extensive international experience.

The results appeared quickly: after four matches at Estádio do Dragão, for the Liga Betclic, FC Porto is the only team among the top 40 championships in the UEFA ranking that has not conceded a single goal at home. To find a similar record, one must look down to the Maltese championship – 42nd place – and see Birkirkara, which also remained unbeaten in the three games played at their home ground.

Almost Impenetrable Wall

The Dragão has once again become a fortress where opponents not only fail to score but rarely create situations of real danger near Diogo Costa's goal. In the four home matches of the championship, the opponent that posed the most threat was V. Guimarães, which shot about a dozen times, but only two of those attempts were on target.

Casa Pia could not trouble Diogo Costa, Nacional tested the Porto goalkeeper only once, and Benfica also recorded just one shot on target – by Sudakov, which was easily resolved. The best situation for the club from Luz ended up being an almost own goal by Kiwior. Farioli has built, at Dragão, an almost impenetrable wall.

Sp. Braga is the next to try to breach this defense, an opponent whose strengths Francesco Farioli could observe firsthand on Wednesday, when the Arsenalistas thrashed (5-0) Santa Clara in the League Cup. The Minho team will seek to score at Estádio do Dragão – something that has not happened in the championship since May 2 of this year. As the game with Sp. Braga is scheduled for November 2, on that day it will be six months since the last goal conceded at home, scored by Moreirense through Yan Lincon.

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