Arsenal loanee provides assist against AS Roma despite defeat | OneFootball

Fabio Vieira provided an assist for FC Porto against AS Roma on Thursday night, but his loan team were eliminated from the Europa League anyway.

Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images

Arsenal midfielder Fabio Vieira has had a busy loan with FC Porto so far, but perhaps Thursday was his most important game for the team so far.

Porto were facing off against AS Roma in the Europa League play-off round, having drawn their home leg of the tie 1-1. Vieira had only made the bench for that first leg, but he made the starting lineup for Porto away in Rome in midweek.

Within 27 minutes, Vieira had made an impact. Picking up the ball just inside the penalty area, the 24-year-old saw his first shot at goal blocked. But he headed the rebound to Samu Omorodion, who scored an excellent overhead kick for 1-0 (2-1 on aggregate).

Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images

It was a great start, but it didn’t last. Paulo Dybala scored a brace before the break, and shortly after Vieira’s second-half substitution Roma added a third to kill the tie.

Devyne Rensch scored a late own goal to bring Porto back within one goal, but the Portuguese team were down to 10 men after a red card and the five minutes of injury time were already up.

It ended 3-2 to Roma on the night, 4-3 on aggregate.

Photo via Porto on Twitter

Porto have also already been eliminated from both of the Portuguese cup competitions, so their season now entirely rests on their league campaign.

Vieira’s loan side sit third in the Liga Portugal, six points behind leaders Sporting, and four points behind second-place Benfica. Only the top two currently have a chance to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Vieira has made 28 appearances (16 starts) for Porto this season, scoring two goals and assisting four.