In the three official games already played by the dragons, the Spaniard was the only striker to score. Next opponent is one of the favorite victims
Two goals scored in FC Porto’s first two games in the 2023/24 I Liga, against Moreirense and Farense, make Toni Martínez the exception to the rule in the squad’s five strikers. The Spaniard, who only started last Sunday, in the reception to the Algarve, was the only scorer able to find the way to the goal so far. As such, everything points to him maintaining his presence in the starting eleven on the visit to Rio Ave, scheduled for Monday (20:15), seeking, at the same time, to repeat a feat that he achieved in the first season with a dragon on his chest: to score in three consecutive duels .
At the end of 2020/21, Martínez shot to count in the last three rounds of the championship. Two of the opponents were, curiously, Farense and Rio Ave, with the trio being complete with the extinct B SAD. Regarding the current series, the opponent that follows opens up good prospects for Toni. The emblem of Vila do Conde is one of the three favorite victims of the Spanish striker, along with Moreirense and the other club he represented in Portugal, Famalicão.
The number 29 of the dragons has four goals against each of these opponents and, to reach that « hat trick » of challenges to score the point, it would have to isolate Rio Ave at the top of the prey list. It should also be noted that three of the four goals he scored against the Vila-Condenses were scored at Estádio dos Arcos, stage of the third matchday and from where FC Porto was defeated (3-1) last season. The accurate shot by Sérgio Conceição’s team was by Toni Martínez.
What is certain is that, at a time when Taremi, Fran Navarro and Namaso (Evanilson is recovering from injury) are still trying to come to terms with goals, it is the 26-year-old Spaniard who is hitting the opposing goals on the offensive front – Wendell and Marcano scored the other Porto goals. Against Farense, Toni reached the threshold of 30 goals with the blue and white jersey: eight in 2020/21, seven in 2021/22, 13 in 2022/23 and two in this campaign.