Samu Omorodion strikes twice as Porto win 3-0 in Guimarães
Vitória de Guimarães' winning streak at Estádio Dom Afonso Henriques came to a close after suffering a 3-0 defeat to a superior Porto side.
The Conquerors kept it tight in the first half, their resolve broken in the 47th minute when Samu Omorodion headed Joäo Mário's cross past Bruno Varela.
The Spanish striker doubled the Dragons’ advantage 12 minutes later when he finished off a fine pass from Francisco Moura.
Guimarães couldn’t find a way back, Moura registering his second assist in the 88th minute when his cross was headed home by Pepê.
First half to forget
Chances were few and far between in the opening 45 minutes, five yellow cards and five shots recorded in a first half that doesn’t deserve much analysis.
Vítor Bruno was animated on the touchline, trying to find solutions as his side controlled a lot of the ball without troubling Bruno Varela.
The second half started with Bruno Gaspar booked for a cynical challenge on Galeno. A minute later the deadlock was broken.
Samu steps up
Pepê started the move which caused havoc in Guimarães’ defence which was finally caught out. He sent Joäo Mário clear, the right-back crossing to an unmarked Samu Omorodion who headed past Varela.
The slow and tedious nature of the first half had been replaced with exciting end to end action. The Conquerors came back but couldn’t come close to testing Diogo Costa.
In the 58th minute they found themselves 2-0 down. A great pass from Francisco Moura sent Samu clear, the striker speeding away from Tomás Ribeiro, opening up his body and slotting past Varela.
Guimarães second best
Rui Borges made a triple switch in the 69th minute when Samu, Gustavo Silva and Jesús Ramírez replaced João Mendes, Nuno Santos and Nélson Oliveira.
Vitor Bruno countered with a change in midfield, Stephen Eustaquio making way for Marko Grujic before a fatigued Omorodion was replaced by Danny Namaso.
Gustavo Silva went close to getting onto Samu's cross and Costa had no problems nullifying Ramírez's long range strike, the hosts first and only shot on target.
Pepê seals the deal
There was enough time for Porto to put the icing on the cake and it came from another assist from one of their full-backs.
Moura exchanged passes with Galeno and got into the box, teasing the ball into the box where Pepê was allowed too much space to head past Varela.
Analysis
Vitória de Guimarães have been on a sensational run this season, winning 10 of their 11 games which included nine clean sheets. They overcame their toughest in Braga last weekend where they registered a 2-0 victory.
The Conquerors found Porto too strong however, the crowd at Estádio Dom Afonso Henriques unable to make any difference. The hosts did well to hold out until half-time before Samu Omorodion scored two quick fire goals to end the contest.
Rui Borges and his side will continue to fight for fourth place in the Primeira Liga, an achievable ambition despite selling their best players and fighting on multiple fronts.
Porto’s squad is starting to come together after a busy off-season which saw changes from top to bottom. Nehuén Pérez and Francisco Moura have strengthened their defence and Samu Omorodion has scored three goals in 108 minutes of action.
Pepê scored his first goal since April and is keeping Iván Jaime on the bench. Fábio Vieira could be the final piece of the puzzle for Vítor Bruno who is closer to settling on his first choice starting side.