Attacking intent pays off for Guarín and Porto
Friday, March 11, 2011
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FC Porto's Fredy Guarín paid tribute to his side's unstinting application of attacking principles during the 1-0 win at PFC CSKA Moskva, saying: "It's in our DNA to always play one way."
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Fredy Guarín said FC Porto were rewarded for their attacking approach after the Dragons gained the upper hand against PFC CSKA Moskva in their UEFA Europa League round of 16.
The Colombian international midfielder scored the only goal of the game 20 minutes from time at the Luzhniki Stadion, unleashing a right-footed curling shot from the edge of the area which left Igor Akinfeev rooted to the spot. "It was a very important victory for us and we knew we had the potential to get a result we wanted here," said the 24-year-old.
"It's in our DNA to always play the same way; to play attacking football and to try and win the match at all times regardless of whether we are at home or away," added Guarín, whose winner inflicted CSKA's first home defeat in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League in 12 matches dating back to 2005/06. "This was a massively important victory for us."
Despite dominating possession for long periods, CSKA were ultimately punished for their profligacy, with Vágner Love in particular culpable of squandering several openings. The striker could have had a first-half hat-trick and Zoran Tošić, his team-mate, believes CSKA only have themselves to blame. "When you have chances and you don't take them, you can't expect to win," he explained. "We were punished because they managed to score, and this leaves us in a difficult position."
Things could have been much rosier for the visitors had defender Cristian Săpunaru not blasted over from close range with three minutes left. Though they left the Russian capital with a 1-0 victory, Guarín was keen to stress that the tie is far from won. "CSKA are a very good side and they are a tough team to play against," he said "They have some very good players. There's still a long way to go in this tie until we can even think about booking our place in the quarter-finals."
All is not lost for the Russian side, who, according to Deividas Šemberas, must not be so wasteful in the return on Thursday. "We need to score, and we need to start taking our chances," said the CSKA defender. "Today we had plenty of them, but that won't be the case in a week's time. We'll be playing away from home, so chances will probably be at a premium; we need to make sure we take all of them."
