Beşiktaş upbeat after Porto victory

Beşiktaş fans were in seventh heaven on Sept. 14, a day after the Istanbul club made its first ever wining start to the Champions League group stage with a 3-1 away victory at Porto.

Before the fans and the media hailed the victors, Beşiktaş coach Şenol Güneş sang the praises for his players in a post-game press conference.

 "It was important to win in the Champions League, both in terms of gaining morale and getting points," Güneş said, recalling that it was Beşiktaş's first win against the Portuguese club. 

"We beat a strong opponent and we are happy to be on the winning side. I congratulate all my players," the experienced coach added.

Porto had been yet to concede this season, but Talisca, Cenk Tosun, and Ryan Babel all scored for the visitors at the Estadio do Dragao.

After Talisca opened the scoring, Porto equalized thanks to an own goal by Beşiktaş defender Dusko Tosic.

Tosun then gave the Turkish side the lead again before halftime, and Babel sealed the victory in the second half.

"It was a great game from us, defensively as well as in attack," Talisca said. 

"We did exactly what our coach asked of us and everything worked out well. We had a very good first half, though Porto dominated us somewhat in the second but we knew how to stand up to that."

Porto has won only two of its last eight home matches in European competitions, but it was coming off five straight wins to start the season in Portugal, all without conceding.

Porto was without Vincent Aboubakar and Maxi Pereira because of suspensions. Aboubakar had played on loan with Beşiktaş last season.

"We had enough chances to have ended with a different result," Porto coach Sergio Conceicao said.

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