Porto 2-0 Stuttgart: Diogo Costa masterclass and Victor Froholdt thunderbolt ease Porto into Europa League quarter-finals | OneFootball

FC Porto set up a Europa League quarter-final against Nottingham Forest – now coached by Vítor Pereira who led the Blue and Whites to two successive league titles a decade ago – thanks to a 2-0 victory over Stuttgart at the Estádio do Dragão tonight.

A goal in each half by William Gomes and Victor Froholdt resulted in a 4-1 aggregate victory over the Germans, but for a long time it was closer than the scoreline suggested.

Thiago Silva reached the incredible landmark of 1000 professional games in his career tonight. (Photo: Diogo Cardoso/Getty Images)

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Porto were grateful to a fantastic performance from goalkeeper Diogo Costa. The Portugal No1 made two miraculous saves among a hatful of excellent stops to thwart an extremely offensive Stuttgart side.

As has been his wont in recent weeks, Porto coach Francesco Farioli rotated his team heavily as the Dragons remain in the hunt for three trophies. The Italian coach made eight changes in relation to the starting XI that beat Moreirense 3-0 on Sunday.

Thiago Silva plays 1000th game

One of the changes was a recall for veteran Brazilian centre-back Thiago Silva, who, days after losing his mother, took his place in the line-up for the 1000th game of his professional career.

Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Stuttgart made their intentions clear from the start, attacking with aggression and in numbers, happy to take a risk by leaving their back line three against three.

Truth be told, it was the right approach as only an inspired display by Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa prevented the visitors from at least levelling up the tie by half time.

Diogo Costa at his brilliant best

Julian Chabot, Chris Fuhrich (twice) and Bilal El Khannouss were all denied by Costa, one flying save from Fuhrich in particular an extraordinary piece of goalkeeping, while Deniz Undav also contrived to miss a glaring chance for the Germans.

Porto were happy to rely on the counter-attack, and although they broke away on only a few occasions, the hosts always carried danger when they did so.

Midway through the first half, Zaidu and Borja Sainz combined in a rapid break and the ball fell to William Gomes to knock the ball into the net from close range.

The goal gave Porto a comfortable two-goal buffer on aggregate, but the pattern of the game did not change, with Stuttgart continuing to pour forward, their pressure increasing at the start of the second half as they laid siege to the Porto goal

Diogo Costa came up big again in the 54th minute, pulling off an astounding reflex save to somehow deflect Undav’s shot away for a corner.

Froholdt rocket

Danish midfielder Victor Froholdt then decided it was his turn to shine. The 20-year-old has enjoyed a highly impressive debut season at Porto and after some typically tenacious play to keep possession of the ball on the edge of the box he let fly with a dazzling left-foot shot that fizzed into the top corner of the net.

Stuttgart were finally broken.

Perfect week for Portuguese football

Porto’s triumph completes a memorable week for Portuguese football with Sporting’s historical comeback win over Bodø/Glimt, on Tuesday, and Braga also overturning a first-leg deficit to beat Ferencvaros of Wednesday as all three Primeira Liga teams progressed to the quarter-finals of their respective UEFA competition.

The focus now switches back to domestic play and Porto will have to regroup quickly with a tough encounter away at Braga on Sunday.