Pepe sees red as Vitória de Guimarães beat Porto 2-1 at Estádio do Dragão | OneFootball

Third spot is up for grabs in the Primeira Liga after Vitória de Guimarães produced a surprise 2-1 victory against Porto at Estádio do Dragão.

Galeno headed into his own net early on before Guimarães doubled their lead in the 33rd minute. Jota Silva had too much speed for Pepe, the forward racing clear and beating Diogo Costa from close range.

Galeno redeemed himself on the stroke of half-time, using his pace and finesse to finish off a fine team move and provide the crowd with some much needed optimism.

There would be no second half comeback however, the Dragons’ chances dealt a big blow in the 69th minute when Pepe was sent off for dissent.

Porto threw players forward but were unable to find an equaliser, Sérgio Conceição’s side now sitting two points ahead of Braga and Vitória with six games remaining.

Galeno own goal

Both managers made changes after the midweek clash in the Taça de Portugal, Sérgio Conceição bringing in Fábio Cardoso and Danny Namaso for the suspended Otávio and Evanilson, Álvaro Pacheco handing Kaio César his first appearance in the starting side.

Galeno was heavily involved in the early going, intercepting a loose pass and surging into the box where he went down with no penalty awarded.

He remained in the action for all the wrong reasons in the 12th minute when Guimarães went ahead from a free kick. Tomás Händel whipped the ball in, Galeno getting to it first and heading it into the far corner.

Alan Varela’s long range effort was tipped wide by Bruno Varela, but the visiting goalkeeper was enjoying a quiet evening between the sticks.

Jota doubles down

Vitória took advantage and doubled their lead in the 33rd minute. Tiago Silva released Jota Silva who raced past Pepe, holding the 41-year-old off and firing through Diogo Costa.

It could have been 3-0 after Kaio César got past Wendell and forced a save from Costa.

Galeno scores again

Jorge Sánchez tried his luck from distance before Porto got a goal back on the stroke of half-time. Pepê Aquino found Danny Namaso who sent Galeno clear, the winger using his pace to go past Bruno Gaspar and produce a fine finish past Varela.

Álvaro Pacheco made two changes at the break, Afonso de Freitas and Händel replaced by Ricardo Mangas and Tomás Ribeiro which saw Manu Silva step into the holding midfield role. Sérgio Conceição brought on Zé Pedro for Fábio Cardoso.

Mangas was slapped in the face by Francisco Conceição and didn’t last much longer. Likely still feeling the effects of a heavy head clash in the Taça de Portugal semi-final first leg, he hobbled off in the 55th minute with Miguel Maga entering the fray at right-back, Bruno Gaspar switching to the left flank.

Conceição fired over the bar after Galeno made inroads down the left wing, Sérgio Conceição wasting no time in replacing Sánchez and Varela with João Mário and Iván Jaime.

Guimarães were struggling to get out of their own half which saw Pacheco bring on Nélson Oliveira for Kaio.

The action dried up due to constant fouls, time wasting and substitutions, Mehdi Taremi making his first appearance in four weeks when he replaced Pepê in the 67th minute.

Pepe sent off

The game took a big turn two minutes later when Porto were reduced to 10 men following a bizarre incident on the touchline.

Jota Silva tussled with Zé Pedro which saw a throw in awarded to the visitors, Pepe clearly not happy with the decision and remonstrating with the linesman. The 41-year-old kept arguing with referee Fábio Veríssimo who had enough and showed the defender a red card for dissent.

Bruno Varela narrowly avoided a howler after a heavy touch allowed Namaso to close in, the keeper breathing a sigh of relief as the ball was deflected wide.

Varela was then booked for timewasting before João Mendes made way for Nuno Santos, Pacheco sensing a red card coming for one of his players as the clock ticked down.

Toni Martínez replaced Namaso in the 80th minute but Porto were struggling to create clear cut opportunities. Mário volleyed over the bar and Taremi went to ground in added time as Vitória held on to snap an 11-game losing streak against the Dragons.

Analysis

The conspiracy theories in Porto will go into overdrive after Pepe’s dismissal, especially after the officials’ inexplicable decision not to send Ángel Di María off in the Derby de Lisboa.

Regardless, Pepe only has himself to blame for overreacting to a harmless throw in near the halfway line. Constantly intimidating and arguing with officials is one of Porto's specialties, and in this instance it came back to bite them.

It hardly made a difference to the result however, the Dragons well below their best with 11 players on the pitch. They created very little in attack, combination play in the final third near non-existent and they could have been 3-0 down before Galeno reduced the deficit on the stroke of half-time.

Sérgio Conceição’s side are now precariously placed in the Primeira Liga, holding onto third spot with Braga and Vitória two points back with six games to play.

Credit must go to Álvaro Pacheco and his side who had a clear game plan, his tactics expertly executed in their second goal as Jota used his speed to get past Pepe and score his 15th goal of the season.

It was never going to be pretty in the second half, Guimarães doing what any other inferior side would do with a lead at Estádio do Dragão where they earned their first win since 2018.