FC Porto continued their unbeaten run in this season’s Champions League as they brushed aside Basel in a four goal victory to seal a place in the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time since 2009.
However, Porto’s success was overshadowed by a potentially serious injury to skipper Danilo who was involved in a nasty collision with his own goalkeeper, Fabiano, moments after Yacine Brahimi put Porto ahead with a wonderful free-kick on 14 minutes.
In distressing scenes, the defender was rushed to hospital immediately after the incident – thankfully, post-match reports said that he had not suffered any lasting damage.
Porto produced a thoroughly professional performance, despite the setback, adding a further three goals in the second period.
Remarkably, every goal was scored from outside of the opposition penalty area in spectacular fashion.
Hector Herrera set the tone two minutes into the second-half, firing in Porto’s second of the evening with a wicked shot.
Real Madrid loanee Casemiro added Porto’s third with a truly world class free-kick from 30 yards on 56 minutes, while Vincent Aboubakar rounded off the scoring with a sensational strike from 20 yards on 76 minutes.
Basel’s evening went from bad to worse when veteran defender Walter Samuel was shown a second yellow card for an off-the-ball incident in stoppage time at the end of the second-half.
Porto and Chelsea are now the only teams that remain undefeated throughout this season’s competition after Real Madrid surrendered their record by losing 4-3 at home to Schalke.