Gabri Veiga and Borja Sainz sink Arouca as Porto keep a perfect start
Porto beat Arouca 2-0 at the Dragão on 23 August in matchday three of Liga Portugal. Veiga scored on 67 minutes, Sainz on 86, and the champions now have nine points from nine.
The Dragão had to wait until the second half, but it got what it came for. Porto beat Arouca 2-0 on Sunday 23 August in matchday three of Liga Portugal, taking their tally to nine points from a possible nine.
Gabri Veiga broke the game open on 67 minutes. Borja Sainz added the second on 86, by which point Arouca had pushed their line up and left room behind it. Between the two goals sits nearly twenty minutes of a match Porto controlled without ever settling.
Control that took its time
The honest reading of the first half is that Porto had the ball and Arouca had the plan. The visitors sat compact, broke cleanly on the counter, and for forty-five minutes that was enough. Porto’s centre-backs exchanged dozens of passes between them for the simple reason that there was no forward pass on.
What changed was patience rather than tempo. Porto kept circulating instead of forcing it, and Veiga arrived in the pocket where he has been most dangerous this season. After that the game only ran one way.
Where it leaves both sides
Porto move clear at the top with a perfect record, an opening the club has not managed in recent seasons. Arouca drop their first points after an unusually solid start, and leave Porto without a goal but without a hiding either.
Some context is worth keeping. Porto opened their title defence with a 2-0 win over Alverca, and three rounds later the pattern is holding: controlled games, late goals, nothing conceded. It is not thrilling and it is very often what wins leagues.
For anyone who would rather be outdoors than watching football, FATACIL is open in Lagoa until Sunday.
By Vasco Almada
Image: CaGeRaGe / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
