It’s been a tough 24 hours for FC Porto fans. Yesterday news broke that midfielder Otávio had been sold to Al Nassr, quickly followed by rumours that coach Sérgio Conceição had threatened to quit the club in protest at losing his star player.
Today, the Dragons hosted Farense and were on the cusp of dropping points as the score remained 1-1 with just a couple of the 12 allotted minutes of stoppage time remaining, only for captain Iván Marcano to head a Gonçalo Borges cross into the net and transform the gloom into euphoria among the Portistas packed into the stands.
As soon as last season ended, Brazilian-born Portugal international Otávio was the subject of widespread transfer speculation. The 28-year-old had enjoyed another outstanding season and was named the MVP in Portugal despite Porto not winning the league.
But as time went on Otávio remained, with the player himself apparently keen to end the constant rumours about his possible exit by saying: ”they’re going to have to put up with me for another year.”
However, the lure of the riches on offer in Saudi Arabia proved too much for player and club. After almost a decade at the Estádio do Dragão, Otávio was yesterday sold to Al Nassr for a reported fee of €60 million, with the player set to earn a yearly salary of €13 million.
Later in the evening, several Portuguese media outlets ran stories claiming coach Sérgio Conceição was furious with the decision and would be tendering his resignation as a result, although subsequently nothing materialised to that effect.
Notwithstanding the off-field drama, a huge crowd filed into the Estádio do Dragão this evening for Porto’s first home game of the season, against Farense.
And they were soon celebrating when Toni Martínez gave the hosts an early lead. But on the stroke of half time Rui Costa equalised for Algarve outfit with a deflected shot.
Despite dominating the match, Porto were frustrated by poor finishing and a series of excellent saves by Farense goalkeeper Ricardo Velho.
Just when it seemed there would be no way through, substitute Gonçalo Borges capped a fine performance by clipping over a perfect cross for captain Marcano to power a header into the net from close range to the delight of the vast majority of the fans in the stadium.
Porto go joint top of the league with 6 points from their first two matches.
By Tom Kundert
