Convincing win for Porto

10 March 2015 22:47

Porto eased into the Champions League quarter-finals with a comfortable 4-0 win over Swiss side Basle in the second leg of their last-16 clash.

The Portuguese club are through to the last eight for only the second time since winning the competition in 2004 and their place was in little doubt from the moment Yacine Brahimi fired in a free-kick after 14 minutes.

Further goals from Hector Herrera, Casemiro and Vincent Aboubakar after the break rubber-stamped the result, which was further compounded when Basle defender Walter Samuel was sent off in the final moments.

With an away goal to their credit after the 1-1 draw in the first leg, Porto began with a slight advantage and their position was strengthened when Brahimi won the foul on the edge of the area and whipped the set-piece over the wall and under the crossbar.

Casemiro almost doubled the lead but even the loss of captain Danilo, who left the pitch on a stretcher and the ground in an ambulance after colliding with his own goalkeeper Fabiano midway through the first half, could not knock Porto out of their stride.

Brahimi turned creator for their second just after the break with a pacy run into the penalty area before cutting back for Hector Herrera to pick his spot with a curling finish.

Basle, who had come through a group which included Real Madrid and Liverpool, had nothing in response and managed to muster just three shots on target in the entire match.

Casemiro's blistering 35-yard free-kick eclipsed Brahimi's earlier effort before Aboubakar, deputising for Jackson Martinez after the Columbia striker was ruled out for several weeks with a groin problem, rifled home after turning Samuel inside-out.

The Swiss side's misery was complete when Samuel, who had conceded the foul for the crucial opening goal, was sent off for a second bookable offence.

Source: PA