With 89 minutes on the clock during Sporting Lisbon’s Champions League group-stage clash with Tottenham Hotspur in the Portuguese capital, and with the scores still level at 0-0, Pedro Porro decided to take proceedings by the scruff of the neck.
Picking up possession wide on the right, Porro outmuscled Ivan Perisic, breezed past Ben Davies and curled a magnificent effort towards the top corner with (not that you’d have guessed it) his weaker left foot. Hugo Lloris needed every single centre metre of his 6ft 2ins frame to claw the ball away.
But no matter. Paulinho would head home the resulting corner, breaking Spurs’ resistance three minutes before a wonderful solo strike from Arthur doubled the home side’s lead.
Pedro Porro would not be awarded an assist for his efforts, of course. But it was his endeavour, determination and quality that laid the foundations for a famous Sporting win. Without Porro’s bravado and bravery heading into stoppage time, that 0-0 scoreline would have remained a stalemate.
“Tottenham are a very strong team but we knew their defects. We wanted to counter-attack,” Porro told Eleven Sports, celebrating his 23rd birthday in some style. “(Sporting) also have good players, with a strong mentality. We can compete with any team.”
Tottenham are eyeing former Manchester City youngster Pedro Porro
Porro, who joined in £7 million deal from Manchester City, was equally impressive at both ends of the pitch. He managed two successful tackles and four clearances, keeping Spurs off the scoresheet. There were also three dribbles. A tally only bettered by former Spurs whizzkid Marcus Edwards. A tally which reflects Porro’s ball-carrying ability, and poise in possession.
And reports from Jornal de Noticias claiming that Tottenham have joined Real Madrid, Atletico and co in the race for his now £40 million-rated signature suggests that Jermaine Jenas is not the only one who Porro left a lasting impression on.
“If I had to take one (player from Sporting) it would be Porro; the right wing-back,” the former Spurs midfielder told BT Sport. “I’d take him. He’s different class.”
It’s certainly hard to imagine Emerson Royal, Spurs’ current right-wing back, doing what Porro did in the dying stages of that match in Lisbon two months ago; powering through the opposition defence before a winning game-changing corner with a superb long-range effort.
Sporting famously sold a baby-faced Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United after a sparkling performance against Sir Alex Ferguson’s side during a 2003 pre-season tour. Two decades on, could a similar story be unfolding with Pedro Porro and Tottenham Hotspur?
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