JAKARTA - Lucas Paqueta's only goal, which was reviewed by VAR, led Lyon to a narrow 1-0 win over host Porto in a fierce match in the first leg of the Europa League last 16 at the Estadio do Dragao, Porto, Portugal, early Thursday.
Launching Antara, this match deserved to be won by the host Porto because they were more pressing and dominating the field.
However, their reckless defense at the start of the second half left Porto with the tough task of having to win by more than one goal at home to Lyon in next week's second leg in France.
Getting an assist from Tanguy Dembele, midfielder Lucas Paqueta shot the ball into the bottom corner of the Porto goal guarded by Diogo Costa in the 59th minute.
This goal was not automatically confirmed by the referee because there was an allegation of offside before the goal was scored, but after VAR intervention this goal was finally confirmed by the referee.
VAR intervened again in the 65th minute when Paqueta's hand was thought to have touched the ball resulting in a potential penalty for Porto. But this time VAR decided otherwise, no penalty for the hosts.
Porto had thought they had equalized during the second half of injury, but before the goal Porto defender Chancel Mbemba was alleged to have been offside. VAR this time agreed and the goal was disallowed.
Peter Bosz's side are struggling in the French League this season seeking to win the Europa trophy for the first time.
The line-up of both teams as quoted on the Europa League page: Porto (4-4-2): Diogo Costa; Joao Mario (Galeno), Chancel Mbemba, Pepe (Ruben Semedo), Zaidu Sanusi; Otavio Edmilson da Silva Monteiro (Francisco Conceicao), Vitor Ferreira, Mateus Uribe, Pepe; Evanilson (Toni Martinez), Mehdi Taremi (Favio Vieira)
Lyon (4-2-3-1): Anthony Lopes; Emerson Palmieri, Castello Lukeba, Thiago Mendes, Leo Dubois (Malo Gusto); Tanguy Ndombele, Maxence Caqueret; Karl Toko Ekambi, Lucas Paqueta, Romain Faivre (Houssem Aouar); Moussa Dembele.
Très grosse performance de la #teamOL qui s'impose au Stade du Dragon contre une équipe du FC Porto difficile manœuvrer #UEL RDV jeudi 17 mars (21h) au @GroupamaStadium pour le match retour !#FCPOL 0-1 pic .twitter.com/ipgRVmv4el
— Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) March 9, 2022
Meanwhile, in another match, Eintracht Frankfurt silenced the host Real Betis 2-1 at the Benito Villarmarin Stadium, Seville, Spain.
All three goals in this match were scored within 32 minutes of the first half. Despite dominating this match, Betis were forced to lose in the second leg next week.
Frankfurt took the lead when Filip Kostic beat goalkeeper Claudio Bravo in the 14th minute after picking up a cross from the left.
It was Kostic's first goal in the Europa League this season and his tenth for the club while competing in UEFA competitions.
Eintracht put pressure on the hosts with seven players invading Betis defensive territory as the hosts relied on a counter-attack in the early minutes.
A quarter of an hour later in the 30th minute, Real Betis equalized when Nabil Fekir continued to assist Sergio Canales in the 30th minute.
Fekir, making his 25th appearance in the Europa League, picked up the ball from the right edge of the box before curling a curling shot that goalkeeper Kevin Trapp could no longer block.
But two minutes later Daichi Kamada restored the lead for Frankfurt's 32nd-minute winner after getting an assist from Jesper Lindstrom who crossed the home penalty area to pass the ball to Kamada who netted from close range.
Frankfurt could have scored a third in the 52nd minute but Rafael Borre's penalty was saved by Claudio Bravo.
️ AUSW-Ä-RTSSIEG ️–––––⏹️ 90. | #BetisSGE 1:2 | #SGEuropa pic.twitter.com/80M4rgtz32
— Eintracht Frankfurt (@Eintracht) March 9, 2022
The line-up for the two teams is quoted on the Europa League page.
Real Betis (4-2-3-1): Claudio Bravo; Youssouf Sabaly, German Pezzella, Edgar Gonzalez, Aitor Ruibal (Cristian Tello); Guido Rodriguez, William Carvalho (Juan Miranda); Sergio Canales, Nabil Fekir, Juanmi (Joaquin); Willian Jose (Borja Iglesias)
Eintracht Frankfurt (3-4-3): Kevin Trapp; Evan Ndicka, Martin Hinteregger, Tuta; Filip Kostic, Djibril Sow, Kristijan Jakic, Ansgar Knauff; Daichi Kamada (Christopher Lenz), Rafael Santos Borre Maury, Jesper Lindstrom (Jens Petter Hauge)
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