FC Porto triumph at home against V. Guimarães (29-19) | OneFootball

On the 19th matchday of the regular phase of the Championship, FC Porto, without Rui Silva, hosted and defeated Vitória de Guimarães 29-19 this Friday, climbing to 2nd place, swapping with Benfica, who play this Saturday at Luz against Marítimo, while leaders Sporting face Póvoa AC at João Rocha.

The first half was balanced. Nuno Santos’ team responded well, taking advantage of Porto’s finishing difficulties and some technical errors, but the Dragons, who introduced new signing João Gomes (formerly of Gummersbach), gained some advantage at the end of the half and went into the break leading 12-10.

With a more aggressive defense, Porto began to exploit the counterattack and the team from Guimarães, trailing by eight goals (21-13), ended up losing control of the scoreboard in the second half, which FC Porto managed without any scares.

FC Porto’s coach, Magnus Andersson, analyzed his team: “In the first half, the defense was also good, but the attack and transitions were a mess. We made many technical mistakes, I don’t know why, but we only conceded 19 goals, I’m satisfied with the defense and with Ante Grbavac, who was solid again in defense. We made too many unforced errors on the counterattack, about six or seven, and that’s too many. I’m happy that we improved a lot in the second half. We also have new players in different positions, so we tried some experiments. I’m satisfied with our defensive performance.”

Important decisions are coming, with Andersson on high alert: “Every game is very important from now on. We lost here against Sporting, but we didn’t play a bad game. We played against a good team. The chances of us winning the title are still alive, we have to focus on every game. We have tough challenges, starting with Skandeborg on Tuesday. They play very well, a different style of handball, and then we have Águas Santas. We still have a chance to win the championship and, as long as we have it, we must fight for it. We’ve improved in certain aspects and want to evolve even more.”

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