Porto pulled off the shock result of the UEFA Champions League, so far, knocking off Bayern Munich, 3-1, in the first leg of their quarterfinal tie, thanks in large part to a series of calamitous errors from the German champions.
Major controversy struck early on as Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer took down Jackson Martinez inside the penalty area with barely 80 seconds on the clock. In truth, Neuer should have seen red, because if not for taking Martinez down, the Colombian would have rolled the ball over the line into an empty net.
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Instead, Neuer was shown a yellow card and Porto were awarded a penalty kick, which Ricardo Quaresma stepped up to take. The Portuguese attacker sent Neuer one way and slotted his shot into the opposite corner for a 1-0 lead to the hosts.
Porto doubled their lead in the 10th minute, as Dante’s tragic giveaway inside his own half put Quaresma through on goal, one on one with Neuer. Quaresma slotted place his shot inside Neuer’s right-hand post and it was 2-0 before there were 10 minutes on the clock.
Bayern cut their deficit in half, thanks to an opportunistic finish be Thiago Alcantara in the 28th minute. Jerome Boateng’s right-sided cross made its way through a whole host of bodies inside the penalty area, all the way to Thiago near the back post, where a simple redirect was all that was needed to bundle the ball over the line.
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Neuer made a brilliant save of Hector Herrera’s close-range shot in the 57th minute, keeping the deficit at just one. Danilo crossed from the right, picked out Herrera 12 yards from goal, but his shot was tipped over the bar by Neuer.
Martinez restored Porto’s two-goal lead in the 65th minute with a finish from a tight angle after Boateng completely whiffed on his headed clearance attempt. Martinez corralled the ball 25 yards from goal and rounded Neuer as the German ‘keeper came racing off his line. From the there, Martinez had to find the back of the net from a tight, left-footed angle.
The second leg will be played next Tuesday at the Allianz Arena, with the defending and soon-to-be German champions needing to erase a two-goal deficit, but doing so with the aid of a vital away goal.
LINEUPS
Porto: Fabiano, Danilo, Maicon, Martins Indi, Alex Sandro, Herrera, Casemiro, Oliver (Neves 75'), Quaresma (Goebel 84'), Martinez, Brahimi (Hermani 80')
Goals: Quaresma (3', 10'), Martinez (65')
Bayern Munich: Neuer, Bernat, Boateng, Dante, Rafinha, Thiago, Alonso (Badstuber 74'), Lahm, Muller, Gotze (Rode 56'), Lewandowski
Goals: Thiago (28')