Porto seize advantage against Lyon
PORTO, Portugal -- Goals from Deco Souza and Ricardo Carvalho gave Porto a 2-0 win at home to Lyon, putting them on course to reach the Champions League semifinals.
Deco managed to steer in a snap shot from Benni McCarthy in the 44th minute to give Porto the lead in a one-sided quarterfinal first leg.
Carlos Alberto came close to adding a second at the start of the second half when he raced in from the right touchline and fired a shot over the bar.
Porto continued to create chances and they were rewarded for their patient approach when Carvalho rose unchallenged to head in a Deco freekick from the right for their second goal after 71 minutes.
"When you play at home in the first leg you can try to go out and gain a big win to make it easy for you in the return," said Porto coach Jose Mourinho.
"We didn't do that. We kept our composure and that helped us play a good game.
"That way, we got a result that is not bad, although there are still 90 minutes to go in the tie."
The closest the French side came to an away goal that would have given them greater hope for the second leg was in the 39th minute when the ball broke to Sidney Govou on the edge of the box but his shot was deflected over.
Lyon coach Paul Le Guen was disappointed with the marking on the second goal and regretted that his side had failed to capitalise on a brief period of domination in the second half.
"That second goal leaves a lot of regrets. We should have scored in the second half because we had chances," said Le Guen.
"In the second leg we're going to have to have much more of a cutting edge and seal off our goal. We have not scored tonight so obviously we can't concede any more goals."
