Salzburg 0-1 Porto - William Gomes’ added time goal gives Porto all three points in the Europa League | OneFootball

Porto got off to a winning start in the Europa League after a last gasp 1-0 win against Salzburg at an eerily sparse EM-Stadion Wals-Siezenheim.

Borja Sainz rattled the bar in the 3rd minute but the hosts soon took control, unable to get past some last ditched defending from Diogo Costa, Jakub Kiwior and Jan Bednarek.

The Dragons ended the first half in the ascendancy but it Salzburg went close after the break, the Austrian club seeing a goal ruled out for offside before Costa did well to divert Yorbe Vertessen’s shot wide.

William Gomes gave Schlager a sighter late on before the Brazilian was given another chance in the final minute of added time. He took it with aplomb, the Brazilian curling the ball into the bottom corner with Schlager too slow to react.

Salzburg 0-1 Porto

Borja Sainz rattled the bar in the 3rd minute but Salzburg soon got on top, Diogo Costa doing well to get a touch on Petar Ratkov’s shot that was cleared by Jakub Kiwior.

Soumaïla Diabaté’s shot was blocked by Jan Bednarek who then deflected Kerim-Sam Alajbegovic’s effort wide, Mads Bidstrup next to threaten with Diogo Costa well positioned to collect the ball.

Porto had a great chance to score against the run of play in the 33rd minute, Victor Froholdt racing onto a loose ball but unable to get it past Jacob Rasmussen. The final chance in an exciting half fell to Gabri Veiga who headed Pepê’s cross straight at Alexander Schlager.

Francesco Farioli made a triple substitution in the 53rd minute when Zaidu Sanusi, Veiga and Pepê were withdrawn for Francisco Moura, Martim Fernandes and William Gomes.

Porto were spared in the 57th minute when Alajbegovic found the net following Moussa Yeo’s saved shot, Yeo offside in the build up.

Salzburg's Thomas Letsch wasn’t about to be outshined in the substitution stakes, the manager making four changes at the same time Farioli introduced Rodrigo Mora for Alan Varela.

Samu Aghehowa made way for Deniz Gül before Porto dodged big bullet in the 79th minute. Sota Kitano released Yorbe Vertessen who went through a big hole in the Dragons’ defence, Costa getting a slight touch on Vertessen’s shot which deflected the ball narrowly past the post.

William Gomes forced Schlager to tip his cross/shot over the bar late on but the Brazilian would get another chance deep into added time. He stepped inside Aleksa Terzic and fired a curling effort through traffic, Schlager clearly not paying attention to the scouting report, too slow to react and not even attempting a save.

Seven straight

Francesco Farioli maintained his perfect record after taking over at Porto, his side making it seven straight wins with only one goal conceded. It was far from easy in Salzburg but Diogo Costa, Jakub Kiwior and Jan Bednarek proved impenetrable once again.

The Austrian side created plenty of chances but are far from the side that recently won 10 straight Bundesliga titles and narrowly went out to Marseille in the 2017-18 Europa League semi-finals.

The energy drink franchise have run dry after seeing the likes of Sadio Mané, Dominik Szoboszlai, Karim Adeyemi, Benjamin Sesko and Erling Haaland bring in big profits. The pitiful crowd inside EM-Stadion Wals-Siezenheim was a sad reflection of their current condition.

Regardless, the Dragons did well to emerge victorious and their squad is well placed to continue winning with Martim Fernandes returning to action and Alberto Costa an unused substitute. William Gomes is pressing for a starting spot after scoring in three straight appearances.

There is more work to be done before Farioli’s side host Benfica on 5 October, but it’s a fair assumption that Porto will continue to improve and make it ten straight wins against the Eagles.