FC Porto score just 4 in 4 games, but Farioli unfazed by lack of goals | OneFootball

The players of Francesco Farioli defeated Rio Ave last Sunday by 1-0 and strengthened their isolated lead in the Primeira Liga, but once again showed shortcomings in the final third of the pitch. The attacking output, nevertheless, has been acceptable: FC Porto always takes more shots than their opponents and has controlled matches defensively.

However, the Dragons risk finishing February among the worst teams in the league offensively: in the four matches played, they scored only four goals, which resulted in two wins (against Nacional and Rio Ave), one draw (with Sporting), and one loss (against Casa Pia).

The team managed by Francesco Farioli has scored as many goals as, for example, the two bottom teams, Santa Clara and AVS, and one less than the third-to-last, Santa Clara, in addition to having achieved less than half the tally of the two most effective teams during this period, Sporting de Braga and Arouca (both with 11).

Curiously, none of these goals were scored by a striker. Instead, midfielders Pablo Rosario, Seko Fofana, and Victor Froholdt, as well as center-back Jan Bednarek, have found the net, which also raises questions about the productivity of the most advanced sector on the pitch (a topic that will be analyzed later).

For now, this “drought” has not yet had a decisive impact on the table – FC Porto remains in first place, four points ahead of Sporting and seven ahead of Benfica – but the cushion was more comfortable before: the team collected seven points out of a possible twelve, while their rivals reached ten.

The offensive decline coincides with a wave of injuries that hit the squad, sidelining Thiago Silva, Jakub Kiwior, Martim Fernandes and Samu Aghehowa, after Nehuén Pérez and Luuk de Jong had already seen their 2025/26 season ended due to physical problems.

The absence of Francesco Farioli from Samu Aghehowa partly explains the Dragons' offensive drop, since he is the team's attacking reference, with 20 goals in 32 matches this season. Even so, it is not the only cause of the problem.

Before being sidelined by a complete rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, in the Clássico on February 9, the Spanish international was already going through a less prolific period, with only one successful shot (in the 3-0 win over Gil Vicente) in seven matches.

In that run of games, only twice did FC Porto manage to win by more than the minimum margin (at home against Gil Vicente and also against Rangers, 3-1), with the former Atlético de Madrid player starting all those matches, including the derby with Sporting, in which he was replaced by Deniz Gul at halftime.

The Turk still has not managed to effectively replace his teammate (he has not scored since the 1-1 draw with Viktoria Plzen on January 22) and winter signing Terem Moffi has had few opportunities to show his worth, with 17 minutes in the visit to Nacional and six in the home game against Rio Ave.

If the output among the strikers is low, among the wingers it is even scarcer. Pepê has not scored since December 18 (a 4-1 win over Famalicão), Borja Sainz since December 22 (a 3-0 win over Alverca), and William Gomes since January 26 (a 3-0 win over Gil Vicente). Oskar Pietuszewski remains goalless, though with far fewer minutes.

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