The Colombian collected a clearance on the edge of the box and juggled it expertly before firing a volley back towards Edouard Mendy’s goal. With the ball flying quickly through the warm Spanish evening air, Mendy was rooted to the spot and could only watch gratefully as the effort rippled the top of his goal’s netting.
Resisting Porto’s early advances, Mendy was then called into more pressing action to claw out an inswinging corner from Otavio that would otherwise have curled in for an improbable goal. Zaidu Sanusi fired over on the rebound and the Blues were able to regroup.
Magic Mason
Our slow start was soon punctuated with a moment of quality as Tuchel’s men grabbed an all-important away goal. While previous attacking endeavours had come from exploiting space out wide, particularly through James down the right, the breakthrough was fashioned with precise passing, clever movement and clinical finishing through the middle.
Jorginho claimed an assist with a punchy ball into the feet of Mount, whose intelligent body positioning and receiving skills often tend to turn a decent pass into a more dangerous opening. The England midfielder turned brilliantly away from the flailing Sanusi and then drilled the ball across goal from 20 yards and neatly into the bottom far corner.
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