PORTO FINISH CL GROUP UNBEATEN

December 22, 2018

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FC Porto finished the Champions’ League group phase with an unbeaten record after earning a 3-2 victory at Galatasaray on Tuesday.

Porto entered the match in Istanbul having already clinched first place in Group D, and will advance to the round-of-16 on a run of five consecutive victories.

The Portuguese leaders got goals from Felipe and Moussa Marega before halftime, with Sergio Oliveira adding another goal in the second half.

Even so, they needed Galatasaray forward Sofiane Feghouli to miss a penalty to secure the win that gave them 16 points from the group.

“We wanted to equal our best (group stage) performance and it’s a huge source of pride to be part of that history,” Oliveira said.

Galatasaray still secured a third-place finish and a Europa League berth after last-place Lokomotiv Moscow lost 1-0 at Schalke, which had already locked up second place and a spot in the knockout rounds.

After fending off the hosts’ initial push, Porto went ahead in the 17th minute when center back Felipe got away from his marker and jumped to powerfully head home a curling free kick by Alex Telles.

Porto doubled the advantage in the 42nd after Galatasaray defender Mariano tripped Hernani as he dribbled past him inside the area. Marega drilled the spot kick in as goalkeeper Fernando Muslera dove the wrong way for the striker’s sixth goal in the Champions League this season.

The hosts were able to pull one back in first-half stoppage time when Felipe fouled Garry Rodrigues as he made a move on the left side of the box. That allowed Feghouli, the only other Galatasaray player to offer anything in attack, to step up and slot the penalty kick into the corner of Iker Casillas’ net.

Porto got its third goal in the 57th. Danilo recovered the ball inside Galatasaray’s half, and sent it forward for Hernani to reach the end line before finding Sergio Oliveira to score from close range.



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