Football: Porto thrash Basel to reach quarter-finals

PORTO - Porto reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a thumping and thoroughly deserved 4-0 win over a flat Basel side on Tuesday that gave them a 5-1 aggregate success.

The Portuguese side took the lead with an excellent first-half free kick from Yacine Brahimi, which set the tone for an evening of superb long-range strikes.

His effort was followed by equally impressive second-half efforts from Hector Herrera, Casemiro and Vincent Aboubakar with all four of the goals coming from outside the penalty area.

Porto were without their top scorer Jackson Martinez, but the Colombian's replacement, Cameroonian Aboubakar had an excellent game, causing Walter Samuel and Fabian Schaer in the Basel rearguard endless trouble.