Nigerian defender Ziadu Sanusi learnt this painful lesson when Porto hosted Chelsea in the first-leg quarter-final tie of the Champions League on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. 

Sanusi had found delight in his debut Champions League campaign with some fine performances in both round-of-32 ties against Juventus, a group game against Manchester City and his goal-scoring appearance against Marseille. 

But on Wednesday night against Chelsea, he was found wanting, not in the game in totality but in those moments that matter the most at the big occasion. 

The moment came in the 32nd minute when he lost concentration and allowed Mason Mount to turn past him at the edge of the penalty before shooting past the Porto goalkeeper for Chelsea’s first goal of the night. 

The Nigerian defender was caught out of position with Jorginho’s pass, and as if that was not enough mistake, he rushed into a tackle which he missed. 

Porto never recovered from that moment and went on to lose 2-0 at home. 

Before that goal, Sanusi was solid, keeping his line and defending tightly as Porto initially troubled Chelsea in the first half.

Although he didn’t have any chance to attack well from the left, he got a chance to score in the 25th minute after a loose ball from a corner fell to him in the box, but he could only manage to shoot well over the post. 

Sanusi and Porto face an uphill task ahead of the second leg with slim chances of progressing after a 2-0 first-leg loss at home. 

But Wednesday night’s game is a massive lesson to the Nigerian left-back. On these big nights, only the little things matter.