quaresma pounces for porto triumph published: thursday 4 october 2007, 0.30cet
beşiktaş jk 0-1 fc porto ricardo quaresma struck deep into injury time to give the 2004 european champions maximum points from their trip to istanbul.
by yakir mizrahi from inönü stadium
ricardo quaresma scored in the dying seconds to give fc porto an invaluable and dramatic victory at beşiktaş jk.
dramatic end the home side had arguably had the better of things but porto pressed more as the match wore on and quaresma, their most lively player, was rewarded deep into injury time as he forced the ball past hakan arıkan. the result leaves porto second in uefa champions league group a on four points while beşiktaş are yet to get off the mark ahead of consecutive games against liverpool fc.
spectacle despite a disappointing reverse at olympique de marseille on matchday 1, the turkish team were in positive mood in front of their excited supporters at the inönü stadium. and while visiting coach jesualdo ferreira had vowed "our only aim is to get three points", porto found themselves increasingly on the defensive despite some promising runs from quaresma.
bobo injured after two minutes beşiktaş threatened for the first time when matías delgado's free-kick from the left was headed over from close range by serdar kurtuluş. porto responded with quaresma tricking his way into shooting range only to be denied by hakan arıkan, though the action soon switched back to the other end. edouard cissé went close and bobo then had a header punched clear by porto keeper helton on 26 minutes, but the striker picked up an injury in the incident, forcing his replacement by márcio nobre.
helton saves helton, who had sat out porto's home draw with liverpool with a knee injury, produced another save after an exchange of headers between gökhan zan and ibrahim toraman. the home fans were briefly silenced on 33 minutes when raul meireles shot just over from distance yet beşiktaş nearly went in ahead at the break as cissé let fly from distance, bringing a diving stop out of helton.
porto respond the portuguese champions knew they had to step up the pace in the second half and their argentina midfielder lucho gonzález began to make his presence felt down the right flank. he supplied one incisive cross into the box that raul meireles was unable to make full contact with with his head. he went past left-back ibrahim üzülmez another time but delivered a centre beyond quaresma's reach.
breakthrough beşiktaş had coach ertuğrul sağlam sent off by referee peter vink as the tension levels rose and with time running out, both sides threatened a breakthrough. adriano nodded over for porto on 77 minutes, then substitute federico higuaín, sent on by sağlam's assistant mutlu topçu in place of ibrahim akın, went close at the other end. it seemed that the exciting finish would not produce a goal but after lucho had mis-hit a shot in the home box, quaresma took the ball down with his chest and directed it beneath hakan arıkan at the goalkeeper's near post.
