Vitória’s winning run in Europe ends but late Ramírez header earns draw in Astana

Astana 1-1 Vitória

Vitória’s record run of nine consecutive victories in European play this season came to an end in Kazakhstan this afternoon as Rui Borges’ team drew 1-1 against Astana.

Fresh from their journey of 6700 km, Vitória were punished for wastefulness in the first half as Branimir Kalaica’s turn and shot gave the hosts the lead at the interval.

The Conquistadores continued to create and spurn chances, and it needed an 89th-minute header by Jesús Ramírez to salvage a point and temporarily at least put Vitória top of the Conference League table with 10 points from their four matches. José Ricardo Leite reports. 

Vitória has been the Portuguese team that has contributed the most points for its ranking, with 6/6 wins in the qualifiers and 9 points from the first three games of the UEFA Conference League. The Conquerors travelled more than 6000 km to play in Almaty, to face Astana in Kazakhstan.

Handel benched, Manu Silva starts

Nuno Santos and João Mendes were often switching positions in order to create space in the middle. After only five minutes, Santos already threatened the Astana defence with a powerful shot just wide.

Astana’s tactic was simple to decipher: play through the wing and hope to win a corner, a foul or an opportunity to cross into the box. They gambled on physicality.

On the other hand, Vitória valued possession and verticality. Demoting Handel to the bench to play with Manu Silva is risky, however understandable from a tactical point of view. Manu is a much more defensive midfielder than Handel, and Rui Borges tried to rely on him to allow the centre-backs Borevkovic and Jorge Fernandes to go forward and find some solutions in possession.

It was from a corner that Vitória’s best opportunity to score a goal in the first half came. In the 26th minute, Tiago Silva crossed and Manu didn’t have the killer instinct necessary to put the ball in the net. Vitória were clearly the better team, despite playing the long game with a very patient treatment of the ball.

One-way traffic but Vitória can’t score

Vitória’s pressure led to more opportunities, and Kaio César led the team with his dribbles on the wing. A beautiful cross into the box onto the head of João Mendes made the Astana goalkeeper work.

On the counter-attack, Astana tried to answer. However, the counter-attacks created no danger whatsoever for Bruno Varela.

In the 35th minute another cross from Vitória saw the Conquerors come really close to scoring. The space created between João Mendes and Nuno Santos was crucial for gaining ascendancy to cross into the box. This time, Manu’s header hit the crossbar.  

Astana goalkeeper Condric shines

Against the run of play, Astana took the lead. Former Benfica player Kalaica scored after a corner was launched into the box with a sharp turn and low shot. In the next play, another opportunity and an amazing save by the Astana goalkeeper Josip Condric to deny João Mendes, originating a corner where Manu Silva once again came close to heading in a goal.

At the end of the first half, another clamorous miss! Nuno Santos, all alone only Condric to beat and another massive save! The spirit of Yashin must have blessed this goalkeeper!

Half time: Astana 1-0 Vitória

The definition in the last pass or when shooting was the main problem for Vitória. Astana completely dropped back, only playing on the counter attack, not even trying to have possession.

In the 55th minute another chance goes betting for Vitória. Nuno Santos one-on-one against the goalkeeper shot too high. An unbelievable run from the attacking midfielder but today was not his day.

Disaster seemed to have struck on 63 minutes as Astana made it 2-0, but the referee saved Vitória as he ruled out Geoffrey Chinedu’s goal for a foul on Miguel Maga in the buildup.

Coach Rui Borges tried to shake things up by swapping his striker, Jesús Ramírez coming on for Nélson Oliveira, and also bringing on José Bica and João Mendes (left-back) for Maga and João Mendes (midfielder).

The referee started to have some trouble controlling the match as Astana’s players employed time-wasting tactics, screaming and falling to the floor at the slightest of touches.

In the 73rd minute João Mendes was desperately unlucky to see his rocket of a shot thump back off the crossbar! With ten minutes remaining Kaio César limped off, replaced by Telmo Arcanjo, with Tomás Händel also entering the fray in place of captain Tiago Silva. Hopefully, César’s injury is not anything serious as he again showed he is one of Vitória’s best players.

Justice at last

Despite winning corner after corner, it seemed it would just not be Vitória’s day. Then, in the 89th minute, the goal finally arrived. Ramírez rose high to powerfully head in Arcanjo’s cross and the Portuguese team were rewarded after 31 attempts! Vitória still had time to go for the win.

Arcanjo had the last attempt, firing over. After 34 (yes, 34) attempts on goal by Vitória, the Conquerors leave Kazakhstan with a draw, once again doing Portuguese football proud. 

Final considerations, positives and negatives

+ Kaio César’s plays on the wing, the diagonals in possession and his left foot dribbles are outstanding! The standout could have been Nuno Santos, but his failures in front of goal means that Kaio was overall the better performer today. The Conquerors have really found a hidden gem in Brazilian Serie B.

- Miguel Maga. It is hard to find a negative in this performance by Vitória, but the worst of the best was Maga. Betrayed for playing on the left while being a right footed player, Maga had little to no impact on the game.

+ Josip Condric. On the other hand, hard to find a positive in such a poor performance by Astana. However their goalkeeper saved them multiple times when the crossbar wasn’t there. Amazing by Condric.

- Astana’s manager. After scoring the goal it seems his instructions were: if someone tries to play football you will get a 50% pay cut. The players refused to play and started to imagine how their lives would look like if they were actors in Broadway. Shameful is the kindest thing to say.

Still unbeaten in Europe this season and with a great chance of pursuing a dream beyond the league phase, the Conquerors can believe and aim for the sky in this Conference League.