António Silva was the hero of Benfica’s victory over Estoril Praia, in the eighth round of the 1st Football League, scoring the only goal of the match in extra time.
The Benfica centre-back scored the 1-0 in the 90+3 minutes, in a match in which the Eagles had little success, and achieved another victory for Roger Schmidt’s side in the championship.
With this result, Benfica takes the lead in the championship, with 21 points, two more than Sporting, which will host Arouca at the end of the day next Sunday. Estoril occupies last place in the standings with only four points and is the sixth game in a row without a victory in the championship.
The first part of the game was all about the Eagles, but the football was not very exciting. The first scoring opportunity for the national champions came in the 24th minute, with Tengstedt close to justifying his starting place. The attacker isolated himself on the right and shot from a tight angle just wide of Marcelo Carné’s post.
At the age of 32, Neres tried to pull a rabbit out of the hat: in a small space, the Brazilian kept the Estoril defender aside with a subtle touch, but Carné flew to the ball and deflected the shot that was already heading towards the bottom of the goal of the team.
Halftime followed shortly afterwards, but not before Tengstedt squandered another good chance by letting the ball slip away and losing space for the shot, which went over Estoril’s goal too late.
Benfica were expected to press at the start of the second half, but it was Estoril Praia who grew into the match and put Benfica on track with Heriberto’s shot hitting the post. The attacker hit the woodwork of Trubin’s goal with a bang, after an action in which Vasco Seabra’s men again caught the Red defense on the counter.
A few minutes later, Otamendi and João Mário responded. The captain shot from the middle on a tight save from Carné and João Mário saw the rebound stopped by the yellow wall.
Benfica was desperate for a goal, Estoril did not give up the attack when space opened up in the red and white midfield, but both teams started to lack strength and the two coaches started the dance of substitutions.
Within the last five minutes, Otamendi missed a goal that was already being celebrated in the stands: Neres put a cross for Musa in the area, the Croatian muffed the ball on a plate for the captain, but at the moment of the shot Otamendi made a curl and the ball came out slowly at the last line.
At a time when whistles were already being heard in the stands, the goal that decided the match came from António Silva. After assisting Otamendi, Musa served Benfica’s young central defender and the result was more effective, with the ball ending up in the Estoril goal and releasing the red and white side into the António Coimbra da Mota stand.
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☑ SUMMARY
I Liga (#8) | Estoril Praia 0-1 Benfica#LigaPortugalBetclic #GDEPSLB https://t.co/zxSduCf2ID pic.twitter.com/gbuVWKfqmc– VSPORTS (@vsports_pt) October 7, 2023
Source: DN
