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Barcelona 1-0 Porto: 10-men Barca hold on to slim lead to earn victory

Barcelona 1-0 Porto: 10-men Barca hold on to slim lead to earn victory

Lewandowski was taken off in the first half with an injury, with substitute Ferran Torres scoring the only goal of the match

Barcelona vs Porto Live Streaming: BAR vs FCP: Xavi’s Barcelona on Thursday earned a gritty three points as they held on to their 1-0 lead against a spirited Porto side. Goal from substitute Ferran Torres in the 34th minute secured the tie for Xavi’s men. However Barca finished with 10 men as Gavi was shown a second yellow card in the stoppage time of second half. With the win, Barcelona remained on top of Group H with six points from two matches while Porto remained 2nd with three points from the same number of matches.

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Porto started the match well, getting some early attacks into Barcelona’s penalty box but Ter Stegen was hardly bothered. Barcelona slowly grew into the game as they started seeing more of the ball.

Xavi’s side, expectedly, dominated possession, but it took them a while to find their rhythm in the final third. Joao Felix looked especially lively, forcing the Porto goalkeeper to make some fine saves.

An injury to Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski in the 34th minute of the first half forced a change in Xavi’s plans. Lewandowski wasn’t moving comfortably after picking up an ankle knock. Xavi took no chances and replaced him with Torres. The substitution proved to be a useful one with Spain international scoring in the added time of the first half.

Porto midfielder Baro played a sloppy pass backwards on the halfway line. Ikay Gundogan latched onto Baro’s mistake before picking out Torres with the reverse pass. The substitute kept his composure to slot it around Costa and into the back of the net.

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Porto were dominant in the second half, forcing Barca goalkeeper Ter Stegen to make some saves. Barca survived a couple of scares towards the end. The VAR overturned a penalty decision in favour of Porto.

 A long pass looped over the top for Eustaquio hit Cancelo in the arm, forcing the referee to point towards the spot. However, the referee overturned his decision after watching the incident on the monitor.

Eustaquio was adjudged to have handled the ball before Cancelo and Barcelona was awarded a free-kick. Porto scored a goal around the 82nd when Taremi pulled off an exceptional bicycle kick over Ter Stegen, but the goal was waved off as Taremi was offside.

Xavi’s men ended the match with 10 men as Gavi was sent off for receiving a second yellow card.

Barcelona vs Porto XI

Barcelona XI – Ter Stegen; Cancelo, Araujo, Kounde, Balde; Gundogan, Romeu, Gavi; Lamin Yamal, Lewandowski, Felix

Porto XI – Costa; Mario, Cardoso, Carmo, Wendell; Varela, Baro, Eustaquio; Pepe, Galeno; Taremi

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