Copenhagen earn heroic point in Porto
Andreas Cornelius’ scrambled header earned 10-man FC Copenhagen a heroic draw in Porto to kick off their Champions League campaign with a deserved point.
Cornelius powered his effort home after initially being denied at the far post on a rare foray forward for the visitors.
Porto had taken the lead through a sublime effort from forward Otavio, who would go on to play a part in Jan Gregus’ red card midway through the second half.
The hosts pushed hard for a winner after Gregus was shown his second yellow but the Lions held on.
Lions remain unbeaten
FCK came into the clash unbeaten in 14 games this season. Part of that record included the six qualifying matches required to reach the Champions League group stage.
Manager Ståle Solbakken opted to start Gregus on the right flank on a sodden night in Portugal, with William Kvist and Thomas Delaney holding the centre of midfield and Youssef Toutouh on the left.
Striker Federico Santander returned to the starting XI alongside Andreas Cornelius after the Paraguayan was rested for the OB win on Saturday.
Copenhagen started confidently against the Portuguese champions and after a period of resolute defending carved out their first opening when Gregus chipped in to Santander, whose powerful header Iker Casillas tipped over.
It was a sign of FCK’s ambition but before they could capitalise on their swing in momentum Porto scored.
Porto take the lead
It was a neat finish from Otavio, who fed on to Andre Silva’s flick after Delaney had uncharacteristically lost the ball on the edge of the area.
Copenhagen retaliated with a header from Cornelius that sailed wide and for the remainder of the half the visitors traded possession with their hosts mainly in the centre third without either side creating much going forward.
Indeed, the second half started much the same, with both sides happy to sit back and watch the other play, so long as they didn’t encroach towards their box.
That all changed seven minutes into the half when Cornelius struck. The Lions spread play from right to left and eventually found Toutouh, who crossed over to the unmarked Cornelius. Left-back Alex Telles nipped in before the big Dane could pull the trigger but Cornelius was first to the subsequent high ball and headed past the on-rushing Casillas to draw level.
Copenhagen continued to enjoy possession after the goal but did very little with it bar a deflected Delaney effort.
And their task to retain at least a point from the game got a whole lot harder when Gregus picked up his second yellow card when sliding into a challenge on Otavio.
Lions hold on
The incident happened in front of Solbakken, who had just brought up Rasmus Falk from the bench to make a substitution. Falk was subsequently told to sit back down as Benjamin Verbic replaced Santander.
With Cornelius up front on his own Porto naturally took control of possession. But the Lions - bolstered by the arrivals of Falk and Mikel Antonsson off the bench - held firm magnificently.
It took until the 85th minute for Porto to get in behind the defence marshalled by Eric Johansson - at which stage Laurent Depoitre floated a cross wide.
Yacine Brahimi also fired wide and Oliver Torres headed over in stoppage time as Porto threw everything they had at the visitors but Solbakken’s men shut up shop to earn a well deserved point.
PORTO: 1 FC COPENHAGEN: 1
Porto: Casillas, Layun, Felipe, Marcano, Telles, Herrera, Danilo, Torres, Corona, Silva, Otavio.
FC Copenhagen: Olsen, Augustinsson, Johansson, Zanka, Ankersen, Toutouh, Kvist, Delaney, Gregus, Santander, Cornelius.
Goals: Otavio, Porto (13'), Cornelius (52').
Attendance: 34,325
