Nicosia, Cyprus, Nov 2: Gustavo Manduca's last-minute goal Tuesday gave APOEL a 2-1 win over FC Porto to extend its surprising unbeaten run in the Champions League to four matches.
A quick counterattack by the Cypriot champion in the 90th minute opened up the Porto defense, allowing an unmarked Manduca to latch onto a low cross from captain Constantinos Charalambides and hit a first-time shot from close range past goalkeeper Helton.
The two teams had appeared to be heading for 1-1 draw after Hulk equalized for Porto from the penalty spot a minute earlier, following Nuno Morais foul on James Rodriguez in the box.
APOEL first scored in the 42nd when Brazilian striker Ailton Almeida also converted a penalty, sending Helton the wrong way. Ailton earned the penalty himself when he was brought down after dribbling the ball into the Porto box despite being double-marked.
APOEL leads Group G with eight points, one ahead of Zenit St. Petersburg and four in front of Porto. Shakhtar is in last place with two points after a 1-0 loss to Zenit earlier Tuesday.
APOEL qualified for the Champions League group stage for just the second time and now has two wins and two draws in four matches, giving it a solid chance of advancing to the competition's knockout stage.
“Certainly, it's one of the most important moments in the history of this team,” APOEL coach Ivan Jovanovic said. “This gives us more motivation to remain in the fist two spots of the group and advance to the next round of the Champions League.”
Jovanovic said his team's plan to take advantage of any defensive lapses from Porto paid off.
“We know who we are, we know our opponents, we have great respect for Porto, Zenit, Shakhtar,” Jovanovic said. “We have great confidence and we're going into these matches to show what we're capable of.”
Porto coach Vitor Pereira rebuffed a question about whether his team should be ashamed of its performance, dismissing it as not serious.
“Both teams played hard to win, we played our way, they played theirs,” Pereira said. “Toward the end we tried to keep play in the midfield, but a momentary lapse of concentration cost us.”
APOEL tried to set the pace from the outset, while Porto couldn't seem to get its attack going and struggled to create quality chances. APOEL's tight marking in the back didn't allow the Europa League champion to use its speed on the attack.
Ailton could have given APOEL the lead in the 19th when his diving header hit the Porto post.
A minute earlier, Porto's Brazilian star Hulk fended off two APOEL defenders to dribble the ball into the box and fire a hard shot directly at goalkeeper Urko Pardo who pushed it wide of the goal.
Kleber's clever run in the 58th found Hulk at the top of the APOEL box, but his curling shot ricocheted off a defender and went wide of goal.
Porto stepped up the pressure midway through the second half, with another Hulk run into the Cypriot box in the 64th producing a half-chance after a backpass found substitute Guerin, whose long-range effort ended in Pardo's arms.
Hulk's curling free kick three minutes later aimed at the top corner of the Cypriot goal again bounced off a defender for a corner.
In the 83rd, Hulk spun to evade an APOEL defender at the top of the Cypriot box, but his hard shot went wide.
APOEL had fewer chances in the second half, trying to exploit any Porto defensive errors. In the 70th, Manduca rounded a Porto defender, but his close-range effort was blocked by a diving Porto defender.
