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10-man Barcelona claimed a vital 1-0 win against FC Porto in Group H of the UEFA Champions League but were somewhat fortunate to come away with all three points.
The Blaugrana were handed a massive blow in the 27th minute when Robert Lewandowski went down in a heap. The Barca superstar was clattered into by Portuguese defender David Carmo and was seen on the sidelines with his knee bandaged.
Ferran Torres came on as his replacement in the 34th minute and he grabbed the only goal of the game on the stroke of halftime. A poor error from Porto's Romario Baro was pounced on by Ilkay Gundogan. He found his Spanish teammate who made no mistake in placing past Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa.
The hosts at the Estadio do Dragao had their chances to equalize in the second half and thought they'd won a penalty in the 77th minute. Canadian midfielder Stephen Eustaquio drove the ball forward and appeared to hit Joao Cancelo on the arm. English referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot but he was then advised to review the incident on his pitchside monitor.
The penalty was overturned as Eustaquio was deemed to have also handled the ball before it struck Canelo's arm. It was a relief for Barcelona as Porto searched for an equalizer.
The Primeira Liga giants then had the ball in the back of the net in the 83rd minute. Mehdi Taremi sent an audacious overhead kick past Barca goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen but was ruled offside.
The Blaugrana had to see out their win with 10 men with five minutes of added time left. Gavi was given his marching orders for a second bookable offense in the 90+3rd minute for bringing Porto left-back Wendell down.
Xavi's men managed to claim victory away in Portugal although it was a testing affair for the reigning La Liga champions. They sit top of Group H with two wins from two games.
A Real Madrid fan reckons Porto were robbed:
"Congratulations on robbing yet another team."
Another Madrid fan also felt Porto were hard done by:
"Very rigged game."
Here's how fans on X (formerly Twitter) reacted to a nervy win for Barcelona:
Barcelona boss Xavi gives an update on Robert Lewandowski and Ronald Araujo
Barcelona manager Xavi explained why he brought Lewandowski off in the first half after he was left floored by Carmo's strong tackle. The Spanish coach also touched upon Ronald Araujo who received treatment during the second half of the win against Porto (via Managing Barca):
“Lewandowski was replaced because he received a strong blow to his ankle and Araujo is a little tired. We need to recover quickly because we have Granada on Sunday.”
The Blaugrana have made an unbeaten start to their defense of the La Liga crown. They sit second one point behind rivals Real Madrid with six wins and two draws from eight league games.
Lewandowski has been finding the net consistently so far this season, with six goals and four assists in 10 games across competitions. Barcelona fans will be praying his injury isn't too serious.
