Blue-and-white fortress: Porto shut out rivals in over half under Farioli | OneFootball

FC Porto have not conceded a single goal in their three matches of 2026/2027, repeating the start of the previous season. In the clash with Rio Ave, in Vila do Conde, Francesco Farioli recorded for the 89th time in his career a match in which a team under his command kept a clean sheet, a highly significant milestone.

The Italian coach’s clean sheet numbers are telling: in 40 percent of the 223 matches he has managed so far, his teams have not conceded.

At FC Porto, the percentage is even more striking. During the Farioli era, the Dragons have finished 31 of 56 matches without conceding, the equivalent of 55 percent of their games.

This record surpasses those achieved at Nice and Ajax. At the French club, there were 18 clean sheets in 47 percent of the matches, while in the Netherlands, with Ajax, the figure stood at 24 matches, corresponding to 44 percent.

The numbers were lower in Turkey, where Farioli took his first steps as a head coach. At Karagümrük, the team kept seven clean sheets in 27 matches, a rate of 26 percent. At Alanyaspor, there were nine matches without conceding in 48, the equivalent of 19 percent.

Diogo Costa’s influence

FC Porto beat Torreense 1-0 in the Super Cup and also defeated Alverca and Rio Ave, both by 2-0 scorelines, in the league. With three clean sheets this season, and also counting the 1-0 win over Santa Clara on the final matchday of the previous league campaign, Porto have now gone four consecutive official matches without conceding.

The team are therefore just one match away from matching their best run of last season, achieved between December 2025 and January this year, when they went five straight games without conceding in all competitions.

Despite not having conceded any goals yet, FC Porto have not shown, in this start to the season, the same defensive solidity seen in other periods. In that respect, Diogo Costa has played a decisive role.

The Portugal international goalkeeper had to make at least four saves in the matches against Torreense and Alverca. In Vila do Conde, among other important interventions, he stood out by denying Tamble with a flying save shortly before half-time.

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