Arsenal loanee makes 1st start after near 2-month wait | OneFootball

Arsenal loanee Fabio Vieira made his first start back with FC Porto at the weekend, playing over an hour in their cup win over Sintrense.

Fabio Vieira with FC Porto (Photo via Forca.Dragoes on Instagram)

Fabio Vieira has made a slow start to his loan back with FC Porto, after an injury absence kept him out until the end of September.

The midfielder made his comeback against Arouca on September 29th, playing 21 minutes as a substitute, but he had to wait another three weeks for his first start of the season.

That start finally came on Sunday, with Porto taking on Sintrense in the Taca de Portugal.

LONDON, ENGLAND: Fabio Vieira of Arsenal looks on during the pre-season friendly match between Arsenal and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Emirates Stadium on August 07, 2024. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

Given Sintrense’s status as a fourth-division Portuguese club, this was a game for heavy rotation by Porto.

Only Nehuen Perez, Alan Varela, and Wenderson Galeno kept their places from the previous league games, with the other eight players all dropping out. So it’s hard to read too much into Vieira’s selection for the game.

The Arsenal loanee ended up playing 64 minutes, and he was involved in Porto’s opening goal, releasing Goncalo Borges down the right-hand side. Borges crossed for Galeno to finish for 1-0.

After adding two quickfire goals just before the hour mark for 3-0, Porto made a triple substitution, with Vieira among those coming off.

Fabio Vieira with FC Porto (Photo via FC Porto on Instagram)

Porto return to Europa League action in midweek, hosting Hoffenheim on Thursday, October 24th at 20:00 BST. They’ll then play against AVS Futebol SAD in a league game the following Monday.

It will be interesting to see whether Vieira starts either of those matches as he continues to build up his minutes.

When Porto agreed the loan for Vieira, Fabrizio Romano reported that there was a clause in the deal that would mean the Portuguese club owe additional money if the player doesn’t play 50% of their matches. So they’re certainly incentivised to include him.