FC Porto beat Rangers 3-1, through to the Europa League last 16 | OneFootball

FC Porto secured direct qualification for the Europa League round of 16 on Thursday night by defeating Rangers 3-1 at Estádio do Dragão, in the final match of the single league phase.

The Scottish team took an early lead, at six minutes, benefiting from some defensive passivity from FC Porto: French winger Gassama took advantage of a cross from the right and a hesitant exit by Diogo Costa to head in for 0-1.

Coach Francesco Farioli made five changes compared to the lineup against Gil Vicente – Alberto Costa, Francisco Moura, Alan Varela, Rodrigo Mora, and William Gomes came in for Martim Fernandes, Thiago Silva, Pablo Rosario, Gabri Veiga, and Borja Sainz – and saw the team react to recover the score still in the first half.

Rodrigo Mora equalized shortly before the 27th minute, following a counter-attack initiated by a creative pass and a second attempt by William Gomes, who first shot and allowed number 86 to finish on the rebound. Shortly after, at 38 minutes, Francisco Moura benefited from a collision between goalkeeper Jack Butland and a teammate to make it 2-1. Just before halftime, at 41 minutes, center-back Emmanuel Fernandez deflected a corner taken by William Gomes into his own net, setting the score at 3-1 as they went into the break.

In the second half, FC Porto managed the lead and slowed the pace, with Rangers unable to reverse the situation. Farioli even took advantage of the final phase to rest some regular starters. Pepê was the most active solution in the attack, with two dangerous shots at 78 and 84 minutes that did not result in a goal.

With this victory, FC Porto secures direct presence in the Europa League round of 16. The Porto team finished the group stage in fifth place, with 17 points, ahead of Sporting de Braga, while Rangers were eliminated, concluding their participation in 32nd place with four points.

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