FC Porto are finally off the mark in the Champions League, and they did it in style. Three straight defeats to open the league phase were swept away in one raucous night at the Estadio do Dragao, as Francesco Farioli's side dismantled Napoli 4-1, Gabriel Veiga pulling every string and the visitors' set-piece defending collapsing in front of him.
Set-Piece Siege Breaks Napoli Early
Porto came into Matchday 4 pointless and bottom of the pile in Europe, but you would never have known it from the way they started. The Dragao crowd sensed vulnerability in a Napoli side still bruised by the weekend's 2-0 Serie A defeat against Juventus, and the hosts attacked the visitors' box relentlessly from the first whistle.
The breakthrough arrived on 11 minutes, and it set the pattern for the night. Jan Bednarek rose highest to power home a header from Gabriel Veiga's delivery, with Napoli's marking nowhere to be seen. It was the first warning of a flaw that would haunt the Italians all evening: every Porto corner and free-kick into the area caused panic.
Napoli, to their credit, steadied themselves and levelled two minutes before the break. Scott McTominay, who had already been booked in a spiky first half, arrived to finish from Rasmus Hojlund's assist and silence the Dragao at 1-1. On the balance of the opening period, it flattered them, and everyone in the stadium knew it.
Veiga Blows the Game Open
The second half was a siege. Veiga rattled the crossbar from the edge of the box, Santiago Gimenez scuffed a golden opening straight at Alex Meret, and Pepe sent a half-volley wide as Porto camped in the final third. The pressure told on 71 minutes: Gimenez slipped a pass through, Veiga raced clear one-on-one with Meret and deposited the finish into the net with the composure of a player who had been the best on the pitch all night.
Nine minutes later the set-piece nightmare returned. Napoli allowed Jakub Kiwior a completely free header from Hwang In-beom's corner, the former Arsenal defender nodding in the third while blue shirts stood and watched. The full match timeline is recorded in the Bundesliga.com liveticker, and the minute-by-minute account on Football Italia tells the same story of a defence that never learned its lesson.
The collapse was completed in the final minutes. Rafa Marin, exposed on the counter-attack, hauled down Samu Aghehowa with no attempt to play the ball and was shown a straight red card on 88 minutes. Samu picked himself up and sent Meret the wrong way from the penalty spot on 90 minutes to seal Porto's first European points of the season, on a night when the rest of the continent was producing drama of its own, including Manchester City's 3-2 win at RB Leipzig.
So What It Means
For Porto, this changes the picture completely. Farioli's team are top of the Primeira Liga but had nothing to show for their European campaign after defeats in their opening three games. Three points, a four-goal haul and a performance this dominant reopens the play-off race for them, and the Dragao will be a miserable place to visit for the rest of the league phase.
For Napoli, the questions are piling up. Their only European points so far came from the chaotic 4-3 win over Bodo/Glimt, and this was a defensive display that would embarrass a side with their experience. Two goals conceded from corners, a red card born of desperation, and an expected-goals count of 2.75 to 1.27 against them tells the story. This is a team that was scoring four at Monza a week ago; in Europe, they look fragile, tired and far too easy to bully at set plays.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Porto's season has lift-off. Veiga was unplayable, Bednarek and Kiwior feasted on Napoli's zonal marking, and Farioli finally has a European result to match his domestic form. Napoli, meanwhile, have a structural problem at set pieces that every remaining opponent will now target ruthlessly. Can Napoli fix their defending in time to save their Champions League campaign, or is the play-off round already slipping away from them?
