Bednarek and Kiwior earn praise as Porto beat Arouca

Jan Bednarek and Jakub Kiwior again drew strong reviews in Portugal after helping FC Porto to a 2-0 win over Arouca, with the Polish centre-back pairing at the heart of another controlled defensive display.

Another clean sheet for Porto

Porto’s start to the league season has developed a clear pattern. This was their third league match, their third win, and once again the scoreline finished 2-0. After previous victories over Alverca and Rio Ave, Arouca became the latest side to fall to the Portuguese champions.

Goals from Gabri Veiga and Borja Sainz secured the result, but the platform was once more built from the back. With Bednarek and Kiwior leading the central defence, Porto recorded another shutout and continued a run of defensive solidity that has quickly become one of the team’s defining features.

It was Porto’s third clean sheet in the league and their fourth in all competitions, having also kept their opponents out in the Portuguese Super Cup against Torreense.

Kiwior denied again by VAR

Kiwior came close to adding a memorable personal moment to another assured performance. The Poland international found the net from around 30 metres, only for the goal to be ruled out after a VAR review. Officials judged that Andre Silva, who was in an offside position, had interfered with the goalkeeper’s ability to make the save.

It was an especially frustrating moment for Kiwior, who has now seen a goal disallowed by VAR in back-to-back matches. Even so, the decision did little to change the wider assessment of his display, which was again viewed positively in the Portuguese press.

Portuguese press hail the Polish duo

Record gave both Bednarek and Kiwior a rating of 3 in its school-style grading system. The paper described Kiwior’s outing as another competent defensive performance, while noting that he had once more put the ball in the net only for the effort not to stand.

Bednarek’s review was equally complimentary, with Record highlighting his strength both in the air and on the ground, as well as the key recoveries he made during the match. The newspaper’s verdict painted him as a defender who was extremely difficult to get past.

A Bola rated both players 6 out of 10, which was the joint second-highest mark in the Porto side. Its assessment of Bednarek noted one lapse before half-time, when Barbero got behind him and headed at Diogo Costa, but stressed that it was the only real moment in which he lost track of his opponent. Beyond that, the paper pointed to his stability and control in a game where Arouca rarely threatened.

On Kiwior, A Bola focused on the quality of his all-round contribution. Alongside the disallowed long-range strike, the newspaper praised his distribution and defensive reliability, describing it as another performance of a very high standard.

Pietuszewski still absent

Not all of the Polish news around Porto was positive. Oskar Pietuszewski was again unavailable as he continues his recovery from injury.

Porto will look to extend both their winning run and their sequence of 2-0 results when they face newly promoted Academico Viseu away from home on Saturday 29 August at 19:00.