Porto win 1-0 in Guimarães to take another step towards the Primeira Liga title | OneFootball

Porto made it 17 wins in 18 Primeira Liga matches this season following a hard fought 1-0 victory in Guimarães.

Vitória started the contest in the ascendancy, Noah Saviolo and Oumar Camara heavily involved and creating havoc out wide. The hosts looked most likely to score before Porto were awarded a penalty in the 25th minute.

The decision came after a clumsy effort from Orest Lebedenko who brought down Alberto Costa. Samu Aghehowa stepped up and slammed the ball against the bar.

Samu da Silva and Alioune Ndoye got in each other’s way at the other end as the heat inside Estádio Dom Afonso Henriques got turned up a notch.

Ndoye and Gabri Veiga went close after the break but the substitutions soon began to flow, Veiga and Pepê replaced by Rodrigo Mora and William Gomes.

Ndoye made way for Gustavo Silva before Guimarães had a fantastic chance to open the scoring in the 68th minute.

Tony Strata teased a cross to the back post where Lebedenko ran onto the ball and looked certain to score, his header too close to Diogo Costa who kicked the ball to safety.

Three minutes later Alan Varela sent Borja Sainz through on goal, the Spaniard hitting the post. Francisco Farioli gave new recruit Oskar Pietuszewski his first appearance since signing from Jagiellonia, the 17-year-old winger replacing Sainz as Samu made way for Deniz Gül.

Telmo Arcanjo came on for Camara and would soon be involved for all the wrong reasons, kicking the back of Pietuszewski’s left foot inside the box.

The VAR and João Gonçalves took an age to award a penalty that Varela took with confidence, bamboozling Castillo who watched the ball roll into the net.

Arcanjo's cameo took another turn for the worse deep into added time when he brought down Pietuszewski once again, Gonçalves showing the substitute a second yellow card which was the final act of an enthralling encounter.

Porto can’t be stopped

Vitória were the better team in the first half despite Orest Lebedenko giving away a penalty. They should have taken the lead in the 68th minute when Lebedenko blew a glorious chance to score.

It looked likely that there would eventually be a goal in Guimarães and Telmo Arcanjo ensured it went to the visitors. Pietuszewski had a great debut off the bench to provide Francesco Farioli with another option out wide.

Porto continue to prove unstoppable in the Primeira Liga, and if they can beat Sporting Clube de Portugal at Estádio do Dragão in early February, the title race will be over.