Do the least harm. With no mathematical chance of fighting for qualification to the Champions League, FC Porto secured, this Saturday, direct qualification to the Europa League, thanks to the triumph achieved in the visit to Sporting de Braga, by 0-1.

A match in which the dragons played, almost in its entirety, in numerical advantage, due to the expulsion of Víctor Gómez... in the 12th minute, for accumulation of yellow cards, which greatly conditioned the offensive maneuver of the home team, but did not make life easier for the visitors.

Proof of this is that, despite having dominated possession of the ball, in the first half, the team led by Sérgio Conceição returned to the locker room without being able to make a single shot on target. A scenario that changed drastically in the second half.

There, Matheus Magalhães 'dressed in his gala suit', defending practically all the attacks of the blue and whites (with the 'help' of the post, which, at 50 minutes, denied a goal that seemed certain to Otávio Ataíde) and keeping the minhotos in the discussion.

Sérgio Conceição had to move to 'undo the knot', and, at 76 minutes, launched Mehdi Taremi in place of Francisco Conceição, a bet that proved to be correct, since, moments later, the Iranian international assisted Wenderson Galeno for the winning goal.

FC Porto thus ends the season in third position in the I League, with 72 points, four more than the fourth-placed team, Sporting de Braga. Now, it turns all its attention to the final of the Portuguese Cup, where it will face the national champion, Sporting.

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If Sporting de Braga kept the 'flame' of hope alive for victory until the last second, it owes a lot to Matheus Magalhães. A first half with little work was followed by a second half in which he defended practically everything that came his way, with the exception of Wenderson Galeno's shot, just before the final whistle.

Surprise

In his last game with the FC Porto jersey, in the I League, before leaving for Internazionale, Mehdi Taremi took on the role of 'joker', jumping off the bench, at 76 minutes, in place of Francisco Conceição, and assisting, brilliantly, for Wenderson Galeno's decisive goal, at 84.

Disappointment

A night to forget for Bruma, who made wrong decision after wrong decision, compromising several attacking initiatives by Sporting de Braga, so the decision by Rui Duarte to replace him with Rony Lopes, at 82 minutes, only surprised because it was so late.

Coaches

Rui Duarte: In a match in which only victory was worth direct qualification for the Europa League, more was asked of a Sporting de Braga that was concerned, above all, with not suffering. It is true that the 'early' expulsion of Víctor Gómez did not help, but it is also true that, if there was a time to put 'all the meat on the grill', it was this.

Sérgio Conceição: FC Porto took a while to realize what the best way would be to get around Sporting de Braga's compact block, so much so that they finished the first half without a single shot on target. In the second half, the team was more dangerous, and deserved Wenderson Galeno's goal, in the final moments.

Referee

The refereeing team was, perhaps, the worst of the three that stepped onto the Pedreira pitch. Nuno Almeida made a series of questionable decisions, starting with the expulsion of Víctor Gómez, for accumulation of yellows, in the 12th minute, and ending with the divided move between Ricardo Horta and Alan Varela, in the FC Porto penalty area, which could very well have deserved another type of assessment.

Read Also: Galeno applied 'law of the ex' to Sp. Braga and awarded the podium to FC Porto (Portuguese version)