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Porto have claimed their first victory in Group B of the Champions League after beating 10-man Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 at the Estadio do Dragao this evening.
Substitutes Zaidu Sanusi and Galeno were both on target for the Portuguese giants in the final 20 minutes to help edge past Leverkusen, who were reduced to 10 men in the closing stages of the contest.
Sergio Conceicao’s side began their Champions League campaign with back-to-back defeats against Atletico Madrid and Club Brugge, but tonight’s victory has seen them climb up to second in Group B, level on points with Leverkusen in third at the halfway stage.
A goalless first half was witnessed in Lisbon, but both sides had the ball in the back of the net, only for VAR to intervene and disallow both strikes.
Chelsea loanee Callum Hudson-Odoi thought he had put the visitors in front in the 15th minute, but the officials deemed Robert Andrich to have committed a foul on Pepe Aquino in the build-up.
A hectic final four minutes to the half then unfolded, as a close-range strike from Porto’s Mehdi Taremi was ruled out by VAR because of a handball just moments earlier at the other end of the pitch inside the penalty area by defender David Carmo, with a spot kick awarded to Leverkusen as a result. Patrik Schick stepped up but his effort from 12 yards was tipped away brilliant by Diogo Costa to keep the scores level at the interval.
Leverkusen shaded the first half, but Porto improved after the break and eventually broke the deadlock in the 69th minute when Sanusi met Taremi’s perfectly timed cross to powered a header in at the far post.
Porto then doubled their lead in the 86th minute when Taremi laid on another assist, this time for Galeno who ran through on goal before flicking the ball over Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky.
Leverkusen right-back Jeremie Frimpong was shown a second yellow card just two minutes later for an aggressive challenge on Galeno, and Porto eventually saw out the game to secure all three points.
Elsewhere in Group B, Club Brugge continued their prefect start in the Champions League as they claimed an impressive 2-0 home victory against Atletico Madrid, becoming the first Belgium club in the competition’s history to win their first three group matches.