Porto converted a penalty awarded after a VAR review three minutes from the end of extra time to beat Roma 3-1 and reach the Champions League quarter-finals. Fernando went down as he tried to meet Maxi Pereira’s low shot across the face of the goal and after studying the pitchside monitor the referee judged his shirt had been tugged by Alessandro Florenzi. Alex Telles converted from the spot to give Porto a 4-3 aggregate win and heap further pressure on the Roma manager, Eusebio Di Francesco, who even before the match was reported to be fighting to keep his job. Porto set out needing to fight back from a 2-1 defeat in Rome and they attacked from the start, taking a deserved lead in the 26th minute when Moussa Marega rolled the ball across the box for Tiquinho Soares to tap in from close range. That would have sent them through on the away goals rule but Roma levelled 11 minutes later after Diego Perotti was brought down by Eder Militao and Daniele De Rossi converted the penalty, sending Iker Casillas the wrong way following a stuttering run-up. The Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email. De Rossi limped off on the stroke of half-time with a muscle problem and Porto ended the half on top, with Hector Herrera forcing a fine save from Robin Olsen. They started the second half in the same vein and retook the lead eight minutes after the interval when Marega volleyed in Jesús Corona’s cross from close range. Roma had several chances to level and also had a penalty appeal turned down late in extra time, when the video review showed Marega had not fouled Patrik Schick.<doc-sep>Manchester United and FC Porto are both through to the next stage of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League. Both clubs faced adverse scorelines from the first leg with United trailing 0-2 after a solid PSG display in Manchester. Porto came into their tie against AS Roma in a stronger position taking a 2-1 scoreline back to the Estadio Do Dragao. United found themselves requiring just one goal on the night as the clock moved into the 90th minute after an early Lukaku brace with PSG replying via Bernat putting the Premier League side ahead on the night 1-2. In the final minute United pushed forward and Dalot unleashed a goal bound effort with the ball hitting Kimpembe and heading out for a United corner...or that's what we initially thought. The match official then stopped proceedings after VAR advice and upon reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor, returned to award the spot kick. Rahsford calmly slotted home the kick to give United a 3-1 lead and the overall advantage in the tie. PSG struggled to get the ball forward but it was all in vain as United progress. Drama in Portugal VAR was also the protagonist in Portugal as the other tie of the evening went to extra time following a 2-1 win for the home side. With the game apparently locked in stalemate and heading for the lottery of a penalty shoot-out, a crossfield ball from Periera drifted out of play as Porto's Santos failed to latch onto the delivery. Full screen Soccer Football - Champions League - Round of 16 Second Leg - FC Porto v AS Roma - Estadio do Dragao, Porto, Portugal - March 6, 2019 FC Porto's Pepe and team mates celebrate after the match MIGUEL VIDAL (REUTERS) Match official Cuneyt Cakir was advised by VAR to consult the replay after it appeared that Santos' stumble was in fact a push from Roma's Florenzi. Despite the vehement protests from the Giallorossi, Alex Telles slotted home to send Do Dragao into raptures as the Liga Nos side advance in the competition.<doc-sep>A depleted Manchester United should have had no chance of coming back on PSG, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side took advantage of the opportunities sent its way–including one of two controversial VAR decisions on the day across the Champions League. Even by the standards of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s career, this was astonishing. Manchester United should have had no chance of reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League, of becoming the first side in the history of the competition to lose a first leg 2-0 at home and still go through. And yet, thanks to an injury-time penalty from Marcus Rashford–and thanks to another epic wobble from Paris Saint-Germain–it did. A second-minute goal from Romelu Lukaku had given United hope, but Juan Bernat restored the two-goal margin amid a welter of PSG pressure. A mistake from Gianluigi Buffon, though, gifted Lukaku a second and the incredible suddenly became possible. PSG had dominated possession in the first half, and it dominated it again in the second. United seemed out of ideas, its squad so threadbare it was forced to bring on two substitutes who had between them had played for the club just twice before. And yet the further the clock ticked down, the more it began to feel that Solskjaer would work his curious magic. Sure enough, a wayward Diego Dalot shot struck the elbow of Presnel Kimpembe in injury time and, after a VAR review, the penalty was given. Rashford, who had not had a great night up till then, was unerring and PSG was out on away goals after a 3-3 aggregate draw. A VAR-given penalty settled the day's other tie as well. Tiquinho had given Porto the lead on the night and made it 2-2 on aggregate, only for Daniele De Rossi to restore Roma’s lead from the penalty spot. Moussa Marega, back far earlier than expected from injury, leveled in the second half to take the game to extra time, in which a penalty awarded after a VAR review allowed Alex Telles to give Porto the win. Man United and Porto join Ajax and Tottenham in the quarterfinals, with the final four berths to be decided next week. Here are three thoughts on a VAR-aided day in the Champions League: The PSG curse continues PSG was dreadful at Anfield in its opening group game, all the problems that have been so familiar in previous season brutally exposed. The forward line was almost entirely dislocated from the midfield, and the reluctance of Neymar to do any defensive work meant Trent Alexander-Arnold had the run of that flank. This was the apotheosis of the lazy celebrity football PSG seemed to have invited with its transfer policy. Six months on, the difference could hardly be more marked. Thomas Tuchel’s side was a touch fortunate in both group games against Napoli, but there were times in this tie when it looked spectacularly good. PSG looks like a better-balanced side without Neymar. Kylian Mbappe, flanked by Angel Di Maria and Dani Alves, has pace and creativity and works hard. There was a ruthlessness about the way Di Maria and Juan Bernat destroyed Eric Bailly in the unfamiliar position of right back until he was withdrawn 10 minutes before the halftime break–injury perhaps ensuring what Solskjaer would have done anyway. And yet there was also a weird sloppiness at the back. That had been apparent in the first leg when Kimpembe looked hopelessly adrift and probably should have been sent off, while Thilo Kehrer looked oddly skittish here. More troubling, though, was the general sense of anxiety every time United went forward, despite the fact PSG was almost entirely dominant. All three United goals were the results of unforced errors, from Kehrer, Buffon and then Kimpembe. Allied to a general air of entitlement, the fury every time a United player made a challenge, there was, yet again, the sense that this is a team that doesn't like and is not comfortable with being challenged. PSG is perhaps closer now to being a Champions League-winning side than ever before, and yet it remains desperately flawed. Solskjaer's magic touch Any line of reason before the game said United could not go through. All reason during the game said United could not go through. And yet somehow Solskjaer pushed all the right buttons, and it is United in the quarterfinal, despite being almost embarrassingly outplayed for the opening half hour. Yet once Bailly had gone off for Dalot with Ashley Young switching to fullback, United held PSG at arm’s length relatively comfortably. And when PSG threatened to take control in the second half, Solskjaer’s switch to a 5-4-1 calmed the situation down. His reputation continues to grow. Even to be in the game with 10 minutes to go, to know that a single goal could take it though, was an achievement. That final 10 minutes exposed the limitations of this United squad–although most squads would be exhausted by 10 absentees. Would Solskjaer have liked to have had Marouane Fellaini to throw on and go long, as Jose Mourinho used him to steal the group game away to Juventus? Perhaps, but Fellaini is gone, and so all Solskjaer could do was introduce Tahith Chong, 19, for this third United game, and Mason Greenwood, 17, for his first. United got lucky. Bernat hit the post. Mbappe was not quite at his lethal best. David De Gea made a handful of saves. And then came the penalty and the impossible finale that in the end felt strangely inevitable. Fortunate, yes, but United had the tactical system and the belief to take advantage–and that is a large part of management. More VAR drama sends Porto through VAR’s reputation has taken a hammering in recent weeks, but here was an example of how it may work to improve the game. As Fernando Santos moved at the far most to meet Maxi Pereira’s low cross, his shirt was tugged by Alessandro Florenzi. It was a subtle pull and one that he probably would have gotten away with, but on the replay the offense was clear. Perhaps Fernando wouldn’t even have reached the ball, but that’s irrelevant. Florenzi cheated, and the decision was correct. Alex Telles converted, sending Porto through. It shouldn't be forgotten that VAR wasn't even a part of the group stage. It was fast-tracked and introduced for the knockout stage of this competition by UEFA, and what an instant impact it has proven to have.<doc-sep>
Photo : Octavio Passos ( Getty Images ) While Manchester United was handing PSG yet another hilarious Champions League collapse in Paris, another, similarly entertaining match was going down 985 miles to the southwest of Europe. Porto hosted Roma at the Estádio do Dragão in Portugal, with the home team needing to make up a 2-1 first leg deficit, albeit with one away goal in their pocket. Unfortunately for those who wanted to check out this even-looking match instead of (what seemed like it would be) a one-sided Paris affair, the main channels for the Champions League stateside—TNT and Univision (hi, dad! )—were both showing United-PSG. You could only find Porto-Roma on Galavision. Fortunately for those who did seek it out, though, the two sides delivered a banger of a match. From the beginning of the game, both teams—perhaps unburdened by expectations—played loosely, which thankfully led to a sloppy, beautiful disaster. While both teams were wasteful with their chances, Porto was perhaps a bit more efficient, which, in addition to a little bit of VAR magic, turned out to be the difference in an eventual 3-1 extra time victory to seal their place in the next round of the Champions League. Things started off wonderfully for Porto, who scored in the 26th minute through Tiquinho Soares: While Porto would’ve gone through to the next round had the score stayed where it was after Soares’s goal, it always seemed like more goals were coming. And that’s when things started to go wrong for them. Just nine minutes later, defender Éder Militão tripped up Roma dribbling machine Diego Perotti in the box for as clear a penalty call as you will get in the Champions League (certainly more definitive than the one that decided the United-PSG tie). Roma captain and dreamboat Daniele De Rossi sent Porto goalie Iker Casillas (remember him?) the wrong way for the penalty and, just like that, the Italians were going through and the Portuguese side were back on the ropes. Which, of course, they were able to turn around. Big Moussa Marega (who assisted Soares’s opener) jumped the Roma defensive line at just the right moment following a post-corner kick scramble, finding himself with an easy tap-in off of a wonderfully prescient Jesús Corona cross in the 51st minute. Just like that, Roma’s first-leg advantage was completely neutralized: There were enough near misses and scuffles to fill an entire two-legged tie in just the second half, the best being between certified shithead Pepe and Roma’s big Bosnian striker Edin Džeko: Not sure what was better, the very clear, very loud “Fuck you!” from Pepe, or the comically exaggerated dive from Džeko, who acted like Pepe did...well, what you would normally assume Pepe would do, rather than what he actually did. Roma mostly dominated the first half of extra time, peppering the home side’s box with crosses and cut-backs but not finding a clear shot on goal. Porto seemed content enough to ride out the pressure and rely on their crowd to see them through either in the second half of extra time or in penalty kicks. The second fifteen minutes of bonus soccer were more exciting, particularly inside the Porto box. Most notably, Džeko got the ball on his powerful right foot from about 10 yards out, only to blast it about 10 rows into the crowd. He would follow that up about 30 seconds later with a one-on-one attempt that he tried to chip into the net, only to hit it too softly: And then came VAR. Alessandro Florenzi took down Fernando in the box in the dying gasps of the match, and the refs turned to video review to assess the damage. Roma probably feels screwed over by the video-assisted awarding of a penalty for Porto when it was a no-call on the field; after all, you need clear evidence of a mistake to overturn with VAR, and even on slowed-down replay, Florenzi’s little tug felt slight. Maybe VAR really does suck! Either way, left back (yes, a left back!) Alex Telles stepped up to take the penalty and blasted the ball into the net, and sent Porto into the quarterfinals. Sure, no one would blame you if you didn’t watch this match, as the other one finished with the exact same score only in favor of the away team (usually an indicator of a better game). But Porto coming back in front of their famously rabid home crowd, and on a last-minute, VAR-aided penalty?