It seemed like it was going to be very easy for the eagles, but the script of this film had a scare resolved by a villain who became a hero. This Sunday, Benfica beat Portimonense 3-1 and approached FC Porto, leader of the championship and next opponent of the current national champion.
Bah opened the scoring after six minutes and, in the 16th minute, Musa doubled the lead. Everything seemed easy, but the beginning of the second part was the climax of the story. Hélio Varela reduced the score and Rildo did not tie because Trubin saved the penalty. For peace of mind, David Neres closed the match 2-1.
Looking ahead to the European match, Roger Schmidt made three changes to the starting eleven. António Silva, João Neves and Di María were left out of the German’s options to join Morato, Florentino Luís and David Neres.
The match started divided, but Bah decided to end it. Six minutes of play, The eagles circulated the ball from left to right, until it reached the Danish player and the shot went strong and from mid-height into the back of the net..
Shortly after, the Eagles nearly doubled their lead with a quick attack. Rafa isolated Neres, but Vinicius prevented another goal.
It wasn’t there, it was at 17′. Kökçü discovered Neres behind the defense and the Brazilian, without being selfish, offered an easy goal to Petar Musa.
Everything was very easy for the eagles, who did not need much to create danger. The Algarve team appeared on the field with little pressure and left many spaces between the lines for João Mário and David Neres to take advantage of.
Only in the 27th minute did Portimonense manage to reach Benfica’s goal. Gonçalo Costa crossed from the left and Hélio Varela shot wide.
At 30 minutes, a chance for each side. Rafa isolated himself, took the goalkeeper out of the play, but lost a goal angle and did not shoot. The shot was from Carlinhos and from the middle of the street. Trubin approached the play poorly, but the light touch served to deflect it for a corner.
In the 35th minute, Rafa appeared isolated on the left wing (once again) and shot low for Vinicius’ defense.
Until the end of the first half, Portimonense tried to be stronger in their pressure and reach Benfica’s goal more often, but without practical results, reaching 2-0 at half-time. For the second half, Roger Schmidt launched João Neves, Arthur Cabral and Jurásek to replace Kökçü, Musa and Bah. Igor Formiga left the Portimão team and Guga joined.
With the new players on the field, the understanding between Rafa and Arthur Cabral stood out, giving both scoring opportunities in the first minutes of the second half.
The goal came, but from the other side. Jasper recovered a ball on the edge of the Portimonense area, shot through the middle and isolated Hélio Varela. The left foot shot gave Trubin no chance..
In the next play, Gonçalo Costa crossed for Rildo and the shot was deflected by Morato with his hand. The VAR called Hélder Malheiro and awarded a penalty. During the conversion, Rildo shot low, but Trubin saved the penalty.
The scare was great and was resolved quickly. At 66 minutes, Rafa recovered the ball and launched a counterattack. The Portuguese international served for Neres, who with a cross shot made it 3-1.
The match continued as before. Portimonense took risks to try to score, but Benfica came closer, especially with David Neres on the counterattack.
No one else scored in the match and the match ended with a victory for Benfica. The Eagles are thus one point behind the leader FC Porto, a team they will host on Friday at the Estádio da Luz.
Portimonense XI: Vinicius; Igor Formiga, Alemão, Pedrão, Relvas and Gonçalo Costa; Dener, Carlinhos and Paulo Estrela; Jasper and Helium.
Benfica’s eleven: Trubin; Bah, Otamendi, Morato and Aursnes; Florentino and Kokçu; Neres, Rafa and João Mário; Muse.
Portimonense substitutes: Gabriel; Maurício, Paulinho, Seck, Lucas Ventura, Guga, Rildo Filho, Alcobia and Zinho.
Benfica substitutes: Samuel Soares; António Silva, Tomás Araújo, Jurásek, Chiquinho, João Neves, Tiago Gouveia, Tengstedt and Arthur Cabral.
Source: TSF
