After Saturdays away day near win and second draw on the bounce, Porto were desperate for their first win of the season, especially after being ahead in both games against CASL and SASL.
The weather seemed to have took a turn for the worst as Saturday shone with glorious sunshine, Sunday was a cold windy grey affair. Todays opponents Everton had not played on Saturday, so were more than ready and fit for the game
The game started with Porto looking to get stuck in to their opponents and show their superiority, but they found a more resilient Everton side than they faced in the fall. Everton were well organized and started to pose problems for the Porto team. Within the first few moments though, the game looked like it was going to turn nasty, when a late tackle on Dani in goal resulted in Dani being visibly hurt, but the referee let play go on. With Coach screaming for play to stop, eventually the ball went out and Coach was quick to assist Dani. With a few choice words then exchanged with the referee the game was back underway and Porto looked more fired up. With Coach making several starting changes from the Saturdays game to keep the boys fit, Porto took a couple of minutes to link up with each other and get their passing came going. Once they did though, Porto started to dominate and press Everton high up the field. Porto broke early when on the counter attack, Max was sent through with a well-timed pass from David and Max took only a few more steps before he drilled his shot over the Everton keeper. With this, Everton started to come back and looked to test Dani from range, but with a high looping shot (similar to a shot on the same field last season against TFC Red Bulls that went in) This time, Dani was adjusted and clearly knowing of what to do and showed some incredible calm when collecting from just under the bar and also showed no worries regards the earlier incident effecting him. With some pressure from the Everton side, Porto again broke and this time provider became the scorer as David calmly broke through the backline and from close range slotted the shot passed the helpless Everton keeper. Everton again dug in and looked to impose some strength and had several half chances to get on the scoreboard, but again found a back line led by todays MVP Nicholas in fine form and up for anything that was heading their way. Even when they did break through, Dani was alert and on hand to mop up. HT 2-0
Porto found themselves again in a familiar position being 2-0 to the good and looking comfortable. As with Saturday’s game against SASL, Coach called for determination and that killer third goal to stop a comeback. With changes being made, Coach re-enforced the match game tactics to keep the boys focused and ready.
As the second half got underway, Porto wasted no time in getting that thirs and with only 2 minutes on the clock, Max showed extreme calm to put the ball past the keeper. After this, it was clear to see Everton looked beat. Three quickly became Five as Matty notched his first of the season and David notched his second of the game. With Kevin further adding two more goals, with some excellent team play, David finished the scoring by securing his hat trick in excellent fashion. FT 8-0
Coaches Final Word
It's easy to look at the score and feel this was an easy game, but I viewed this in a different way. Last season we played an Everton team that was lacking a keeper and two key players, today they had all those players in full force. The difference today was that Porto were focused and prepared to match their opponents wherever they were needed to do so! In every area, we won our personal battles, played the smart balls and worked the opponent like a team should! This score line was Porto at their best and was a fine way to cap off a well-worked week with some of the best team attitudes and determination at training, going into their games over the weekend.
MVP
When looking at my MVP for the game, I could have made a case for every single player that took to the field. Dani for making some key saves, being in the wars and keeping a clean sheet.. Matty for some excellent control and positional sense on the attack.. Bennie for truly looking every part the classic player he was promoted from challenge to be.. David for his excellent hat trick and just about every supporting team member that did their part. But todays MVP goes to team captain Nicholas, who I truly felt was not just the leader in the way that he went about what he did on the field and how he was strong on the tackle, but his voice and organizing kept not only the back line in position and ready, but also kept the midfield and other team mates going. Nicholas's leadership both in vocal dominance and with his actions was an example to all! Truly exceptional!! Well Done Nicholas and Well done all!!
