Porto kept their unbeaten start intact with a 35:27 win over Marítimo in Andebol 1 on Saturday. The hosts had been rolling through their fixtures, while the visitors sat top of the table with five wins from five. By then the gap between them had narrowed to three points.
What stood out was how Porto controlled the tempo from the opening whistle. Marítimo came in with momentum but couldn't match the pace when it mattered. The scoreline tells you everything — a ten-goal margin that reflected the flow of the game rather than any fluke.
We had backed Porto to win with 71 per cent confidence before kick-off, and the result vindicated that call. The home side had been building something over these four games, stringing together consistent performances. Marítimo's loss breaks their perfect record, though they remain second on fifteen points.
The visitors will need to regroup quickly. They had nothing to do all evening after the first twenty minutes, watching Porto extend their lead whenever the game threatened to tighten. Things came to a head when the hosts stopped conceding easy chances and started converting their own opportunities.
Porto now sit four points off the top with a game in hand. They can raise the tempo when they need to, and this performance suggested they had the energy for a full campaign. Marítimo's unbeaten run continues on paper, but the confidence of that perfect start has been punctured.
