FC Porto 1 - 1 FC Kobenhavn: Andreas Cornelius earns 10-man Copenhagen a point at Porto

Posted Thursday, September 15, 2016 by PA

Andreas Cornelius netted a second-half equaliser as 10-man Copenhagen fought hard to earn a 1-1 draw at Porto in Champions League Group G.

The former Cardiff striker netted from close range shortly after the interval to cancel out Otavio Monteiro's fine early opener for the hosts.

Copenhagen were then forced to hold on for a point despite having to play the final 25 minutes with 10 men after Jan Gregus was harshly sent off for a second yellow card.

The visitors came close to breaking the deadlock in the 10th minute when Federico Santander forced Iker Casillas into a fine save with a header.

But Porto made them pay for poor defending just three minutes later, Otavio rifling in his first goal for the club with an excellent strike from the edge of the area following a neat backheel from Andre Silva.

Cornelius then missed a golden chance to level just a minute later as he headed Peter Ankersen's cross wide at the back post.

Porto were denied a penalty in the 32nd minute when Jesus Corona went down in the box under a clumsy tackle from Mathias Jorgensen, before the Mexican's cross raced across the face of goal.

Cornelius levelled things up in the 52nd minute, heading in at the back post after Alex Telles' attempted clearance sat up nicely for the forward.

Skipper Thomas Delaney then had a shot deflected wide, but Copenhagen's hopes of victory were dashed when Gregus was adjudged to have brought down Otavia, driving forward at pace, on the halfway line despite replays showing the goalscorer dived.

Porto struggled to make their numerical advantage count, though, as substitute Yacine Brahimi and Oliver Torres both missed the target in the closing stages.