UEFA Champions League Group A wrap: Porto, PSG win again

Porto produced a 3-2 victory over Dynamo Kiev to maintain their perfect record in Champions League Group A, as Paris Saint-Germain also won.

Silvestre Varela’s powerful opener provided the first goal in a terrific match at Estadio do Dragao, with the Ukrainian visitors responding when Oleh Gusyev glanced home a corner kick.

Jackson Martinez put the Portuguese hosts back in the lead before the break, before Ideye Brown’s leveller put the visitors back on to track to earn a point.

But Martinez was on hand again to score the fifth and decisive goal of an enthralling encounter.

Coming into the match having already seen off Dinamo Zagreb and Paris Saint-Germain, the home side showed plenty of confidence in the early stages, but proved unable to fashion a clear-cut chance.

That changed spectacularly when Varela picked up the ball on the edge of the box and rifled home an unstoppable shot.

The Ukrainians had relied on the dangerous crosses of Miguel Veloso to threaten, and they drew level when one such in-swinging delivery was knocked home by Gusyev.

Seeking to reply for Porto, Martinez had already fired a warning with a shot off the crossbar, and it was the livewire forward who restored their lead 10 minutes before the interval.

James Rodriguez was the architect, sliding a neat ball through for the striker to knock home from close range.

After the interval it was the erratic goalkeeping of Helton that offered Dynamo their greatest hope earning a point, with the shot-stopper guilty of some weak punches from the crosses arriving in his area.

Nevertheless, Helton’s most painful moment came as he conceded to Brown, whose thumping effort cracked into the net off the goalkeeper’s face.

The winner for Porto arrived seven minutes later, and Martinez was the hero with a simple finish, tapping home after Lucho Gonzalez beat a ragged offside trap and squared the ball to his colleague.

Elsewhere in Group A, PSG secured a comfortable 2-0 win away to Dinamo Zagreb, thanks to goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Jeremy Menez.

Porto top the group on nine points from three matches played, three points ahead of second-placed PSG.

Dynamo Kiev are third on three points, with Dinamo Zagreb bottom and yet to avoid defeat.