Porto 3-1 Bayern Munich: Quaresma brace stuns Guardiola's men
Ricardo Quaresma celebrates opening the scoring against Bayern
Ricardo Quaresma celebrates opening the scoring against Bayern
Porto beat Bayern Munich 3-1 in the
first leg of their Champions League quarter-final at the Dragao on
Wednesday night thanks to Ricardo Quaresma’s first-half brace.
The
Portugal winger opened the scoring with a third-minute penalty, before
then netting his 50th Porto goal just seven minutes later.Bayern did pull a goal back thanks to Thiago Alcantara’s strike after 28 minutes, but frontman Jackson Martinez ensured Porto recorded their first-ever home win against the Bavarians by then slotting home 20 minutes after half-time.
The home side made a dream start to proceedings when being awarded a penalty after just 90 seconds when Bayern midfielder Xabi Alonso was caught in possession just outside his penalty area by Martinez.
The ever-alert Colombia international then bore down on Manuel Neuer, before rounding the goalkeeper, only to be upended by the shot-stopper just before he was able to put the ball in the back of the net.
Referee Carlos Velasco Carballo wasted no time in pointing to the spot, although Neuer was lucky to escape with only a booking, before Quaresma kept his cool to send the Bayern No. 1 then wrong way from the spot.
However, if Bayern head coach Pep Guardiola thought that piece of defending was bad, then he would have been dismayed to see his team make an even worse error after 10 minutes when centre-back Dante was also robbed of the ball in a dangerous position by that man Quaresma.
Porto win an
early penalty after Alonso is caught sleeping on the ball just outside
the Bayern box and is robbed of the ball by the alert Martinez
The stunned visitors, whose only effort on goal inside the opening quarter of the match was a Robert Lewandowski header that just cleared Fabiano’s crossbar, got themselves back into the contest however by scoring a vital away goal just before the half-hour mark.
Bayern right-back Jerome Boateng made a storming run down the right flank and the defender’s low centre somehow made its way all the way through a posse of players in the box, before an unmarked Thiago found himself in the right place to score his first-ever Champions League goal from close range.
But if that strike came against the run of play, Porto’s players did not let their heads fall, with Julen Lopetegui’s men responding by almost scoring a third goal just before half-time, only for the lively Carlos Casemiro to head Quaresma’s inch-perfect free kick from the right-hand byline wastefully over the bar.
Neuer produces a
truly world-class save at his near post to prevent Boateng from scoring
an own goal as Porto threaten to score a third
The Portuguese champions, though, were not to be denied, as just minutes later Martinez fired them 3-1 in front, although yet again Bayern defender Dante was all at fault for the goal after misjudging the flight of the ball and allowing the Porto captain a one on one with Neuer.
Martinez still had work to do, however, to calmly round the German and net his sixth strike in just seven Champions League games this season, and all this after the player was a doubt in the build-up to the game with injury.
Thereafter Porto managed to keep their opponents at arm’s length to ensure they take a two-goal lead with them into the return leg at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday, a tie in which they will be without both their first-choice full backs through suspension as they look to finish the job in Bavaria.
Luis Suarez celebrates with Neymar during Barcelona's 3-1 win
Barcelona have one foot in the
Champions League semi-finals as they comfortably beat PSG 3-1 at the
Parc des Princes on Wednesday night.
Neymar fired Luis Enrique’s
men into a first-half lead with a cool finish as the visitors dominated
for large periods, before two Luis Suarez strikes put Barcelona into a
commanding lead and Gregory van der Wiel pulled one back late on.Edinson Cavani was denied by Marc-Andre Ter Stegen but the game was controlled by Barcelona, who had also earlier hit the post through Lionel Messi.
It’s a first home defeat in Europe for PSG in 34 matches, and they’re left with a mammoth task as they need to take victory at the Nou Camp next Tuesday to make it into the semi-finals.
Laurent Blanc’s men looked very edgy from the off and it was Barcelona who settled into a good early passing rhythm and tested the PSG defence with some crisp passing.
The visitors almost took a lead within the opening 15 minutes as Suarez picked the ball up on the left and chipped an excellent pass to the edge of the box for Messi, who rolled it out of his feet before curling a shot against the upright from 20 yards out.
Neymar celebrates scoring the opening goal
The hosts lost Thiago Silva to injury after the goal, meaning David Luiz had to be introduced earlier than planned after a surprise return to the squad from a hamstring injury.
PSG struggled to make any sort of impression on the game until after the break, when Javier Pastore drilled an effort at goal from distance, forcing Ter Stegen to parry away as it bobbled in front of the Barcelona goalkeeper.
But it was the visitors who were more clinical and Suarez opened his account on the night with a piece of individual brilliance on 67 minutes, playing the ball through Luiz’s legs before beating two more defenders and forcing a shot into the corner.
Suarez's brace gives Barcelona a healthy lead
They would come to rue that missed chance as Suarez bagged his second of the night with 11 minutes remaining. The striker played a neat one-two with Mathieu before again playing it through the legs of Luiz and then firing a stunning shot into the top corner for 3-0.
PSG pulled one back two minutes later as Van der Wiel drilled a speculative effort which deflected in off the outstretched leg of Mathieu, who blocked a Cavani shot late on to keep Barcelona’s two-goal advantage intact ahead of next Tuesday’s second leg.
Atletico Madrid 0-0 Real Madrid: 6 things we learned
Juan Medina/REUTERS
The two Madrid rivals may not have troubled the scoreboard in their Champions League quarter-final first leg, but there was plenty of action in a thrilling encounter at the Vincente Calderon.
An all action first-half saw Real go close on a number of occasions, but their best efforts were matched by a flawless performance from Jan Oblak in the Atletico goal.
The home side came back into the game in the second half, but both sides drew a blank leaving it all to play for at the Bernabeu next Wednesday.
But just what did we learn from an entertaining first leg in Spain?
Gallery: The best pics from the Vincente Calderon
#BenchBale?
Ahead of kick-off, one Madrid 'fan' attempted to get the hashtag #BenchBale trending.And it didn't take long to get the visiting fans grumbling again, when he was put through on goal but failed to beat Atleti keeper Jan Oblak in a one-on-one.
He again stung the Oblak's palms a few minutes later, but failed to make any real impression on the game as it went on, despite all the good work going on behind him by the likes of Luca Modric and Toni Kroos.
That said, neither did Ronaldo. But one would imagine that the #BenchRonaldo hashtag won't be trending anytime soon.
Three-sy does it
The Madrid trio of Toni Kroos, Luca Modric and James Rodriguez simply ran the first half, taking the plaudits away from the usual headline grabbing suspects further foward.Real were winning the midfield battle with ease, and it was largely down to this trio.
Unfazed by the boisterous home crowd, the Real midfield kept their heads, combining composure with intelligent, purposeful passing.
The only thing that they were unable to do was to find Ronaldo in front of goal, as the Portuguese would surely not have been as wasteful as Bale and Benzema.
Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno
Jan's the man
After seeing Thibaut Courtois develop into one of the world's finest goalkeepers during his extended loan at Atletico, there was a void to be filled between the sticks this season, but judging by the performance of Jan Oblak, Simeone need not worry.
The 22-year-old Slovenian was called upon early and often during a frantic first half, with his first call of duty coming when he got the better of Bale in a one-on-one in the third minute.
GERARD JULIEN/AFP/Getty Images
Roy Hodgson may want to make a note of this performance - England's next match is a European Championship qualifier against Slovenia in June and judging by what we saw tonight, Oblak will soon take over his national team's number 1 shirt.
6-No keeper have made more saves than Oblak, only in the first half vs Real Madrid, in a UCL games this century. Wall pic.twitter.com/mysViSD4mt
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) April 14, 2015
Living in fear
Remember the storm that erupted when Gareth Bale had the gall NOT to pass to Ronaldo in front of goal earlier this year?Karim Benzima obviously does. The Frenchman, who seems to score in every single of real Champions League games, twice passed up golden opportunities to shoot in front of goal, instead passing to his Portuguese team-mate.
The first came just before half-tie, when Bezema had space, time and plenty to aim at when the ball fell to his left foot, but instead misplaced a pass into a busy penalty area and Ronaldo was unable to pick up the ball. After 70 minutes he did it again - forsaking a straight-forward chance and preferring to pass to his tightly-marked team-mate, who was unable to fashion a shot.
Just who is to blame? Ronaldo's all conquering ego? The perma-outraged Real support? Or an under-confident Benzema? Either way, it likely cost the visitors at least one goal tonight.
Sergio Perez/Reuters
Fast start
When these two sides met in the Copa Del Rey earlier this season, Atletico won the first leg 2-0 at home, then drew 2-2 at the Bernabeu.The visitors no doubt had this in mind when they came out of the blocks at a hundred miles-an-hour, looking to take the wind out of their opponents - and the deafening home crowd.
While Real had vice-like grip on the midfield, the hosts had Miranda and (especially) Diego Godin digging in like Geoffrey Boycott in his pomp at the back to frustrate Carlo Ancelotti.
Given the way the match panned out, it's now advantage Atletico, who have the chance to find an own goal at the Bernabeu next Wenesday.
Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno
Coraje y corazon
Or, if you need to brush up on your Castilian, 'courage and heart'.That's what the banners said ahead of kick-off and it's a fitting description for a team that has been sculpted in the image of their manager. The Vincente Calderon has got to be up there in Europe's most intimidating venues when the 50,000-strong crowd are in this kind of mood.
Juan Medina/REUTERS
This Atletico sides displays all the qualities that City have been missing since Christmas - determined, industrial and will to run through the proverbial brick wall for their manager.
The best move that the Atleti board have made this season was to have sealed a new five-year deal with the Argentine back in March
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Golden Shoe: Ronaldo overtakes Messi
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Players such as Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry and Diego Forlan have won the European Golden Shoe in the past few seasons, with Luis Suarez and Cristiano Ronaldo as the latest winners of the award following their 31 goals in 2013-14. The weightings are determined by the league's ranking on the Uefa coefficients. Goals scored in the top five leagues are multiplied by a factor of two, and goals scored in the leagues ranked six to 21 are multiplied by 1.5. Goals in all other leagues are worth one single point.
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The Argentina star, 27, arrived at Old
Trafford from Real Madrid for £59.7m in August and easily beat two other
summer imports – Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez and Chelsea striker
Diego Costa – into second and third respectively.
“There’s no doubt that these figures
will have an impact on the European heavyweights of football as it
appears that spending what could be dubbed as a ridiculous amount of
money on a player could turn out to be a tactical decision.”
Some of the big names that failed to
make the top 10 were Harry Kane, Cesc Fabregas, Oscar, Joe Hart and
Raheem Sterling – while Newcastle striker Ayoze Perez clinched 11th
place.
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It
has been learnt that Stephen Keshi will have to tender an unreserved
apology to the members of the Nigeria Football Federation before he will
sign the new contract and be accepted as the substantive coach of the
Super Eagles.
The executive members of the Federation
met in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State last Wednesday before the Eagles played a
friendly game against Uganda and agreed to give Keshi a new two-year
deal but with a condition that he apologises to the executive committee
for insubordination.
A top official of the NFF told Africanfootball.com, “Keshi has been told he has the job, but first he must apologise for what was regarded as gross insubordination over time.
“That explains why he will sign a code of conduct.”
There has been a frosty relationship
between employer and employee. Their misunderstanding started before the
2013 Africa Cup of Nations finals and it got to the boiling point
during the final round in South Africa and the post-competition events.
In a show of disagreement with the NFF, Keshi ‘resigned’ his appointment
on air via a South Africa radio station. A new board has been in place
since last September but that has not made any difference as the spat
continued publicly even while both sides negotiated the new contract.
Apart from Keshi, it has also been learnt
that the other national team coaches have also been ordered to refrain
from discussing with the media matters outside their technical work,
ranging from salaries and other administrative issues. The letters to
all serving national team coaches were sent out earlier in March.
In the course of negotiations, Keshi
described his new contract as “a slave contract” and wanted several
clauses in it removed. He has also publicly complained about unpaid
salaries and bonuses.
Keshi was advised several times by
highly-placed coaches to leave the team as Nigeria struggled to qualify
for the 2015 African Nations Cup held in Equatorial Guinea but
dramatically returned to the team allegedly on the orders of President
Goodluck Jonathan. The NFF president Amaju Pinnick has since told The PUNCH
that Jonathan never asked them to retain Keshi but followers of events
at the football house believe that a top government official played a
key role in his return.
It is not exactly clear what direction
the contractual discussion may now take with the opposing All
Progressives Party candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) having been
declared the winner of Nigeria presidential election with May 29 as
take-over date.
Daniel Amokachi has been working as an
interim coach of the team but it is hoped that Keshi will take charge
before the African qualifiers begin in June.
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South
Africa coach Shakes Mashaba revealed that he had warned his players
about the quality of Nigerian attacker Ahmed Musa ahead of the
international friendly on Sunday, Africanfootball.com reports.
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Ahmed Musa
South
Africa coach Shakes Mashaba revealed that he had warned his players
about the quality of Nigerian attacker Ahmed Musa ahead of the
international friendly on Sunday, Africanfootball.com reports.
The CSKA Moscow forward opened the
scoring with a superb solo effort reminiscent of the goal he scored
against Argentina in the World Cup last year.
Bongani Zungu leveled matters for the hosts in second-half stoppage, with Bafana Bafana having to settle for a 1-1 stalemate.
“I said to the players before the game
that there is this Musa, number seven. Don’t give him an area where he
faces goals because he is going to punish us. They [the players] will
tell you,” said Mashaba in the aftermath.
“We had him in the first half, he was
nowhere, we had him for some time in the second-half. He always comes on
the flanks and he did it. If you look at the goal he scored he came in
from their left flank, cut in and checked where the keeper is. A very,
very good curler of the ball.
“You could see when the ball left his boot that it was going to give the goalkeeper problems.
“He is a very lethal striker, if you give
him room he will punish you. You saw in the last game we played in
Nigeria. Three times he came point-black with our goalkeeper and once
hit the upright. Lucky Darren [Keet] was on top form that day.
“You don’t leave such players unmarked.”
This weekend’s game was the third South Africa faced Nigeria since Mashaba took over the reins.
The first meeting in Cape Town ended a
goalless draw before a 2-2 stalemate in Uyo on 19 November last year
which kept the Super Eagles from defending their AFCON title in
Equatorial Guinea.
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