Brazilian pair fire Porto past Shakhtar
Reuters - Tuesday 13 September 2011, 21:57
PORTO - Goals by Brazilian
forwards Hulk and Kleber allowed Europa League winners Porto to
come from behind and post a 2-1 win against a Shakhtar Donetsk
team reduced to nine men in a lively Champions League Group G
opener on Tuesday.
Porto hit the woodwork twice in the first 10 minutes, with
the powerful Hulk sending a deflected shot against the bar and
then firing a ninth-minute penalty against the post after Kleber
was brought down by central defender Yaroslav Rakitskyi.
"We were not lucky but reacted well... stayed calm and
waited for the right moment," Porto coach Vitor Pereira said.
"Shakhtar were a high quality opponent but we controlled the
game completely," he added.
The Ukrainians also started confidently and went ahead after
12 minutes when striker Luiz Adriano, another of the numerous
Brazilians on display, pounced on a loose ball after Porto
keeper Helton fumbled a tame shot by Willian.
Hulk made up for his earlier misses with a thunderous free
kick from 40 yards in the 28th minute that Oleksandr Rybka
touched but could not keep out his net.
SET PIECE
"No one was expecting that shot because it was from quite
far away but I saw the keeper left a bit of space open. It's
something we practice during the week, a set piece can decide a
match," the Brazil forward said.
Shakhtar's Yaroslav Rakitskiy was dismissed in the 40th
minute for a fierce tackle on Joao Moutinho and Porto piled on
the misery six minutes after the break.
Winger James Rodriguez made a great run on the left, leaving
substitute Olexandr Kucher standing with a classy dribble and
then picked out Kleber to tap in on his Champions League debut.
Rodriguez almost scored himself after 65 minutes, forcing
the Shakhtar keeper into a smart save with a left-footed strike.
The Portuguese champions pushed forward for a third and came
close when the Colombian winger dipped a free-kick onto the bar
after a foul on substitute winger Djalma which earned defender
Dmytro Chygrynskiy a red card in the 80th minute.
"We played a good match, managed to keep the ball and it was
balanced but two of our players were sent off and the game
became complicated for us," Shakthar's Luiz Adriano said.