Alverca vs Arouca 0-1

Arouca left Complexo Desportivo FC Alverca with a 1-0 win after Taichi Fukui’s first-half goal was enough, helped by Alverca’s early red card for Steven Baseya in the 6th minute.

The only goal came in the 24th minute, when Fukui finished from Javi Sánchez to make it 1-0 after Alverca had already been reduced to 10 men. That remained the half-time score, with Alverca also forced into an early change as Francisco Chissumba went off for Yaya Bojang in the 9th minute, then Rayan Lucas was replaced by Ian Luccas on 45 minutes.

Arouca managed the game from there, with Pedro Santos booked on 54 minutes before being replaced by Mateo Flores on 61 minutes. The visitors made two more changes in the 67th minute, when Iván Barbero made way for Dylan Nandín and Jose Fontán was replaced by Boris Popovic, then another double change came on 79 minutes as Alfonso Trezza and Fukui went off for Brian Mansilla and Lee Hyun-ju. Alverca made their own double change on 75 minutes, sending on Zé Rafael and Nabil Touaizi for Davy Gui and the booked Lucas Figueiredo dos Santos, but they never found an equaliser.

The numbers reflected Arouca’s control of the ball and territory. They had 71% possession, 708 passes to Alverca’s 277, 15 shots to 10 and 3 shots on target to 1, while their 1.99 expected goals was well ahead of Alverca’s 0.43. Corners finished level at 3-3, Alverca had 1 offside to Arouca’s none, and the home side made 2 saves to Arouca’s 1.

Steven Baseya was sent off in the 6th minute for Alverca. Jose Fontán and Pedro Santos were booked for Arouca, while Lucas Figueiredo dos Santos received Alverca’s only yellow card in the 71st minute.