porto secure progress as athletic hopes end published: wednesday 5 november 2014, 23.01cet athletic club 0-2 fc porto yacine brahimi set one up and scored the other as the visitors guaranteed progress and ended the basque club's hopes of advancing.
• porto secure place in knockout phase; athletic's hopes end • goals from jackson martínez and yacine brahimi secure points • martínez misses first-half penalty with the score still 0-0 • athletic strike post in second period but remain bottom of group h • next games: shakhtar donetsk v athletic, bate v porto (25 november)
showing both quality and mental strength aplenty in a white-hot atmosphere in bilbao, fc porto were good value for the three group h points that secured them passage to the next phase.
whole-hearted but short of quality, athletic club were handed a painful defeat by the section's pace-setters which ends their hopes of advancing to the knockout phase. after missing a series of openings, including a first-half penalty, the portuguese outfit prevailed courtesy of strikes from jackson martínez and yacine brahimi and ensured their involvement in the round of 16.
roared on by their always passionate faithful, athletic began at a typically fast pace, though it was porto who continually looked the more dangerous – particularly via midfielder brahimi and no9 martínez. this lively duo enjoyed the dragons' clearest early chances. martínez was twice wasteful, most notably with a free header from a corner which squirmed wide, while brahimi sent a free-kick agonisingly past gorka ıraizoz's far post.
worse was to come for martínez just three minutes before the interval, the colombian forward slamming his penalty off the bar – amid admittedly deafening whistles – after danilo was felled by mikel balenziaga in the area.
though los leones came out all guns blazing in the second period, first blood went to porto – brahimi was once again mesmerising down the left flank, showing an electric turn of pace to leave three men for dead before zipping in a low cross for martínez to bundle in from under three metres.
despite their dominance, however, the dragões were thankful guillermo fernández's brave header bounced off the post and away on 69 minutes. following more profligacy from martínez, porto's killer second arrived courtesy of a big slice of luck. aymeric laporte's pass back to ıraizoz struck a divot and bobbled over the goalkeeper's foot as he tried to clear, his air shot allowing the lurking brahimi the chance to nip in and grab the simplest of goals. ıt was terrible fortune for the hosts, summing up a campaign which has brought just one point so far but for the impressive porto, it is onwards and upwards.
