Porto led twice in Seville — and left with nothing

Real Betis beat FC Porto 3-2 on Wednesday night, and the scoreline alone does not explain how the match got away from Francesco Farioli's side. Porto led twice in the second half in Seville. They lost anyway. Two errors from left-back Francisco Moura produced Betis's equaliser and the penalty that won it, and Porto remain on zero points after two Champions League matches, following their opening defeat to Manchester City.

The game turned quickly after half-time. Abde Ezzalzouli put Betis ahead in the 47th minute. Gabri Veiga levelled with a 25-yard free-kick in the 54th. Samu Aghehowa, within two minutes of coming on, restored Porto's lead on 61 minutes. Then Cucho Hernández made it 2-2 on 74 after an Antony assist, and Isco converted a penalty on 84 after Moura conceded it. Porto had earlier seen a Martim Fernandes goal ruled out for handball by Borja Sainz, and André Silva hit the bar.

On the raw match data, this was not a case of a side clinging on. Betis had 56 per cent possession to Porto's 44, and 17 shots to Porto's 11. But Porto's 11 shots produced 0.90 expected goals, and Betis's 17 produced 1.59 — a gap that reflects the quality of the chances as much as the volume. Porto actually recorded more big chances, three to Betis's two. They scored twice from those opportunities, finishing 1.1 goals above their expected goals for the match.

That last figure stands out against Porto's season. Across their earlier 2026/27 matches in all competitions, their goals minus expected goals averaged 0.0. Here it was 1.1. In other words, they took their chances unusually well and still lost. Their expected goals of 0.90 was well down on their earlier average of 1.96, and their open-play expected goals of 0.61 was roughly half their earlier average of 1.17. Their possession of 44 per cent was also below their earlier average of 54.6, and their one corner was far below the 6.0 they had averaged across those earlier matches.

So the picture is mixed. Porto were more clinical than usual and created the better chances by the big-chance count, but they had less of the ball, generated less overall threat, and conceded three times. The reports of the match focus on Moura: two errors from the left-back, one allowing Antony to assist Cucho Hernández, one conceding the penalty Isco converted. That is a specific, repeatable failure rather than a vague collapse, and it is the most concrete explanation available for how a winning position became a defeat.

Porto are bottom of the league phase with no points from two games. Farioli's side had won nine of eleven across competitions before this match, according to their season record, with the only other defeat coming against Manchester City. The domestic form is not in question. The European position is. Whether the departures in the squad have changed the balance of the team is a fair question, but the available reporting does not establish that link, and it should not be asserted. The more immediate question is whether Moura's night was an isolated one or something opponents will target.

For Betis, this was back-to-back Champions League wins and a first home victory in the competition in over 20 years. They took six points from two games while Porto took none. The next matches will show whether Porto's problem is a left flank that can be attacked, or a single bad evening in a season that had otherwise gone well.