Surprising Porto shock Kielce
Statistics never tell the whole story, but in Porto’s case, the superb form was enough to spring one of the biggest surprises of the season, as the Portuguese champions shocked PGE Vive Kielce, 33:30.
The Polish side, who boasted one of the best attacks of the competition, never got going and failed to capitalise on their experience, as Porto leapfrogged them in Group B’s standings.
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Porto are now third in the group, with four points, one more than Kielce
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The Polish side will host Montpellier next round, while Porto travel to Veszprem
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Porto extended their unbeaten run on their home court to six games in a row
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The hosts scored 33 goals, their second highest amount, after scoring 37 against Vojvodina in 2015
GROUP B
FC Porto Sofarma (POR) vs PGE Vive Kielce (POL) 33:30 (15:12)
Despite this being only their 23rd game in the VELUX EHF Champions League, Porto’s home form has been well-documented, especially as the Portuguese side never dropped a beat in the past five games, winning all of them.
However, Kielce was a different beast, but they were easily tamed in the first half. Despite a 3:0 run for the Polish side that turned the game on its head after a 4:2 salvo in the first minutes, Kielce never got going.
A superb Porto defence managed the high-octane Kielce attack to only 12 goals in the first half, with top goal scorer Alex Dujshebaev scoring only three goals, as the hosts had a three-goal advantage at the break, 15:12. Moreover, goalkeeper Alfredo Quintana Bravo stopped three penalties to add more to Kielce’s woes.
Distributing the ball properly and never relying on only one player, as they did in the first two games, Porto were also cruising in the second half, when they opened a four-goal gap, 21:17, with 20 minutes to go.
Despite winning all mutual games in the European top competition, by an average of 8,6 goals per game and a nearly flawless second half from Slovenian right wing Blaz Janc, Kielce failed to mount a comeback.
A 4:0 run that prevented Kielce to score between the 48th and the 54th minute sealed the deal for Porto, who secured a 33:30 win, their second of the season and one of their most important in history, leapfrogging Kielce in the group standings.
FC Porto head coach Magnus Andersson claimed that the win was significant for the club. “This was a huge victory, not only for me, but for the club and the supporters. Today, we beat one of the best European teams and I’m really proud of our work," said Andersson.
PGE Vive Kielce left back Doruk Pehlivan felt that his side's struggles in defence contributed to the defeat. “We made too many defensive mistakes and we didn't take advantage of many opportunities in the attack, which led to our defeat," said Pehlivan.
TEXT:
Adrian Costeiu / JS