Porto down but not out

FC Porto are in the second round of the UEFA Cup despite an away defeat at KP Polonia Warszawa thanks to their convincing display in the home leg a fortnight ago.

Slow start
With a six-goal deficit from the first match in Portugal, there did not seem much hope for Polonia to turn things around in the return. In fact, both their goals this evening came late in the second half and served only to restore some lost pride.

First chance
The first chance came in the 13th minute when Jacek Dabrowski headed the ball through to Stanley Undenkwor who fired wide with only Porto keeper Nuno Simões to beat.

Porto unfortunate
Five minutes later, Porto were unfortunate not to take the lead on the night when Ricardo Costa's bullet header was cleared off the line, before Hélder Postiga also failed with a weak shot from the edge of the box that was easily saved by Polish keeper Robert Gubiec.

Tiago goes close
Undeterred, Polonia began the second half brightly but Porto still had the first chance after the interval as Gubiec had to be at his best to keep out a stinging drive from Tiago.

Goal at last
Polonia finally found the net in the 67th minute when a long-range shot from Martin Kus was steered into the far corner by Antoni Lukasiewicz. Just two minutes later, Maciej Bykowski went close as Simões brilliantly tipped his scissors kick over the bar.

Deflected shot
Polonia pulled another back with ten minutes to go. Surrounded by two defenders, Bykowski found the on-rushing Kus and his shot from the edge of the box was deflected past the despairing Simões.