It was one of the most unusual finals in recent decades. In Jamor, in the last official match of the season and in the Portuguese Cup decision, the national champion faced a team that had just been relegated to the Second League. I mean: FC Porto, recently crowned champions of the Primeira Liga, faced Tondela, who just a week ago mourned their relegation after seven years in the top flight. For this and much more, this Saturday’s final had different significance for both sides.
For FC Porto, the idea was clear. Winning the Portuguese Cup meant recovering a title won for the last time in 2019/20, sealing the 9th double in the club’s history and crowning Sérgio Conceição as the only Portuguese coach to win the League and the Cup in the same season in Two occasions. For FC Porto, winning the Cup was once again validating an idea, a project and a stage of apparent total symbiosis as a club — laying the foundation for the next season.
For Tondela, the idea was bittersweet. Winning the Portuguese Cup meant reaching the highest point in the club’s history, especially being against one of the “big three”, and finding a way to recover a team, an associative mass and even a belief after a relegation that came in the last day of the Championship and that deserved harsh words from the players themselves. For Tondela, winning the Cup meant regaining the will to survive. laying the foundations for a return to the Primeira Liga next season.
Thus, and with the Portuguese Cup final back at the Estádio Nacional do Jamor after two seasons in Coimbra due to the pandemic, Sérgio Conceição launched Marchesín in goal and Grujic in midfield, with Uribe appearing in the squad but staying on the substitute bench. Pepê and Otávio were responsible for the most direct support for Evanilson and Taremi and, on the other hand, Daniel dos Anjos was naturally Tondela’s offensive reference, completing the attacking trio with Rafael Barbosa and Salvador Agra.
At 39, Pepe becomes a field player (without a goalkeeper) + old to play in the Cup final???????:
39 years, 2 months: Pepe (2022)⬆????
38A, 2M: Francisco Moreira (1953)
36A, 9M: Aloisio (2000)
36A, 5M: Andre (1994)
36A, 4M: Lima Pereira (1988) pic.twitter.com/4RVLm53NIt— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) May 22, 2022
The first few minutes immediately showed how practically the entire final would unfold: FC Porto had almost all possession of the ball and Tondela had difficulty even getting past the midfield line. Even so, and even exerting intense pressure that pushed the Beirões into the last third, the Dragons were slow to create danger and were comfortable with the idea of exploring offensive plays until they found space. Pepe made the first relevant play, with a shot from outside the area that went slightly over (10′), and Jamor only had to wait a few more moments to see the play that made the difference in the first half.
João Mário’s cross from the right, Taremi deflected it, Otávio appeared to shoot at a Niasse defense that took the ball to the crossbar and the shot was even annulled for offside by the Iranian (15′). However, after being called by the VAR and personally analyzing the images, Rui Costa considered that Marcelo Alves had his hand on the ball when he discussed the play with Otávio and awarded a penalty in favor of FC Porto. In the conversion, Taremi did not fail (22′) and reached 25 goals in all competitions in the current season, the best record of the striker’s career.
Taremi’s 25th goal this season: the best record of the Iranian striker’s career
+ Taremi’s goals in a season:
25:2021/22????
24: 2016/17
23: 2020/21 pic.twitter.com/avesS9I6hb— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) May 22, 2022
After the goal, the game returned to the previous logic. Tondela closed the first half hour without shooting and without any action with the ball in the Marchesín penalty area and Daniel dos Anjos had the most dangerous shot of the Beira, when he went ahead of the Argentine goalkeeper and then ran out of angle to shoot on goal (34′). Until the end of the first half, Evanilson still had two chances to increase the advantage, with a header after a cross from Zaidu (43′) and a side shot after a heel assist from Pepê (45+1′), but the result did not change again.
At the break, FC Porto beat Tondela in a very poor Portuguese Cup final, with few opportunities and where the dragons clearly chose to wield natural superiority rather than press the accelerator. Sérgio Conceição’s team had a hand and a half on the trophy and Nuno Campos’ team, who did little or nothing in Jamor’s 45 minutes, had an even more difficult task.
???????????? INTERVAL | Porto 1-0 Tondela
???? “Hot” 1st part, encouraged only by the penalty converted by Taremi
???? Auriverdes without shot attempt or corner#Portuguese Cup #FCPCDT pic.twitter.com/E6wVHCr2DB— GoalPoint.pt (@_Goalpoint) May 22, 2022
[Carregue nas imagens para ver alguns dos melhores momentos da final da Taça de Portugal:]
None of the coaches made changes at the break and FC Porto gave the idea of having entered with the intention of increasing the advantage, closing the accounts and settling the match. Pepê caused danger right after the restart (46′), Taremi shot from outside the area for Niasse to fit in (48′) and Pepê himself allowed a great save by the Tondela goalkeeper when he appeared alone in the area after a cross from the Iranian from the left (49′). The goal, the expected goal, came shortly after.
Vitinha began to lose his balance on the right, combined with Pepê, he received from the Brazilian striker already in the penalty area and had all the time and space in the world to shoot low on goal (52′). Nuno Campos reacted with a double substitution, releasing Dadashov and João Pedro to replace Daniel dos Anjos and Pedro Augusto, but the game stayed in one direction. Taremi shot wide after an imbalance by Otávio on the left (62′) and still had time to miss a penalty, after Sagnan knocked down Pepê in the penalty area, hitting the post (66′).
Vitinha is 22 years old: he is the youngest to score in the Cup final ???????? since 2015/16, when André Silva (also from FC Porto) scored two goals, aged 20 pic.twitter.com/HmgYxMMZDJ
— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) May 22, 2022
Tondela moved again, Tiago Dantas and Bebeto entered, and Sérgio Conceição responded with Galeno, who replaced Evanilson. Shortly after, the beirões did what no one expected: scored a goal. Salvador Agra takes a perfect cross to the left and Neto Borges, totally forgotten at the second post, heads hard to beat Marchesín (73′). FC Porto’s reaction, however, was swift. Practically on the next play, in an insistence, Otávio made a brilliant assist by chipping the ball to discover Taremi in the area and the Iranian, first and redeeming himself from the missed penalty, finished off to score (74′).
Until the end, except for substitutions, little happened. FC Porto beat Tondela at the Estádio Nacional and won the Portuguese Cup for the 18th time, joining the Championship and scoring the 9th double in its own history. If the Cup final returned to its usual place to show that it is synonymous with Jamor, Vitinha showed that it is synonymous with love: he scored, he was the most important player in the defensive and offensive movement of the Dragons and he closed in the best way an extraordinary season in which he became one of the main figures of the future of Portuguese football.
???????????? port???? tondela
???? Dragons do the double ???????, in a game that, despite the auriverde reaction, was never at risk
???? Ratings, stats and xG at https://t.co/QZuwKyufuG #Portuguese Cup #FCPCDT pic.twitter.com/v7B5w29Yfe— GoalPoint.pt (@_Goalpoint) May 22, 2022
Source: Observadora
