Dominant Porto sweep Guimarães aside
Sunday, May 22, 2011
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André Villas-Boas reflected on a "wonderful feeling" after his all-conquering FC Porto team swept to their fourth trophy of the season with a 6-2 win against Vitória SC in the Portuguese Cup final.
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Teenage striker James Rodríguez scored a hat-trick as FC Porto lifted their fourth trophy of the season by defeating Vitória SC 6-2 in the Portuguese Cup final.
By guiding the Liga champions, UEFA Europa League winners and Portuguese Super Cup holders to a third successive cup triumph - and 16th in total - André Villas-Boas matched the achievement of the club's former Croatian coach, Tomislav Ivić, in winning four pieces of silverware in 1987/88.
The Dragons had to cope without Falcao, the match-winner in the UEFA Europa League final ruled out due to a knee injury, but they made the perfect start when Rodríguez turned in the rebound from a Fernando Belluschi shot. Though Guimarães then equalised through Rolando's own goal, Silvestre Varela quickly restored Porto's lead with a right-footed effort.
Playing in their first cup final in 23 years, Guimarães stunned their opponents again when Edgar headed in a corner, yet by half-time their hopes were all but over courtesy of Rolando, after Maicon had struck the crossbar with a header, and Hulk, who scored direct from a corner.
Beto, standing in for Porto No1 Helton, then saved Edgar's penalty, and two minutes into added time Rodríguez rounded off an action-packed first half with a classy finish from Hulk's pass. The 19-year-old, who completed his hat-trick 17 minutes from time following another Hulk assist, said: "All of the team deserves a mention. We've had a great season with many good performances and we're all very happy about that."
Villas-Boas, meanwhile, cited the penalty save as the key moment in what he described as a "crazy match". "Many goals meant it was a good show. The decisive moment of the game was the penalty missed by Egdar, and instead of it being 4-3 we made it 5-2 and the match ended there. It's a wonderful feeling for all of us."
Like Porto, Guimarães will also be playing European football next season. Manuel Machado's side had booked their place in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League before the final, having finished fifth in the Liga.
