Porto achieved a valuable victory over their guest Arsenal with a single goal on Wednesday evening, in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16, disappointing the London team's fans. Galeno scored the only and late goal of the match in the 94th minute.
Both teams delivered a rather dull game, with excessive caution from each side, and it was noticeable that there were not many shots on target. The teams will meet again at the Emirates Stadium on March 12 to determine which team advances to the quarter-finals.
The match started cautiously for both sides, with Porto clearly relying on their Brazilian left winger, Galeno. However, the first quarter-hour saw no serious chances on either goal. Porto waited until the 22nd minute to initiate opportunities, where Galeno followed a cross in front of goal, which rebounded off the post and back to him; he unusually shot it beside the goal.
Arsenal players sent many high balls toward Porto's penalty area, but the home defense led by veteran Pepe managed to deal with them. A significant chance arose for Arsenal in the 34th minute when a corner kick reached defender William Saliba, but his header missed the target.
Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhães cleared a direct free kick from his penalty area, but the ball reached Nico Gonzalez, who shot wide in the 36th minute. The ball deflected off Arsenal player Kai Havertz's shoulder instead of his head following a corner kick for the guests in the 42nd minute.
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice took a corner kick, which reached his Belgian teammate Leandro Trossard, who attempted a volley but sent it over the bar in the 56th minute. After a period of stagnation that overshadowed the match, Porto's right winger made his way down the right side, surpassing Jakub Kiwior, before passing to Ivanilson, who was denied a shot in the 66th minute.
Italian midfielder Jorginho entered Arsenal's lineup replacing Trossard, but nothing changed, and Arsenal relied on set pieces, which had been successful lately, yet Porto's defense was alert to this tactic. The performance remained dull until the end of the match, and Rice executed a free kick, which Magalhães rose to meet with a header that went over Porto's goal in stoppage time.
However, Galeno refused to let the fans of his team leave empty-handed. He received the ball outside the penalty area and unleashed a long-range shot that settled to the left of goalkeeper David Raya in the fourth minute of stoppage time, scoring the precious winning goal.
