THE Benfica had to work hard to beat Santa Clara on Monday night. After trailing at half-time, the red team had to fight hard to win 1-2 in the Azores, in the game that ended round 9 of the I League.
Fernando gave the Azoreans an advantage going into the break, after converting a penalty, but, in the second half, Pavlidis and Prestianni scored the two goals that earned the Lisbon team’s triumph in Ponta Delgada.
Benfica thus places itself in second place in the table, preventing leader FC Porto from escaping further. Santa Clara, one of the surprises in this year’s edition of the I League, failed to reach the podium and suffered its first defeat in the championship.
Game movie:
Similar to what we have become accustomed to at the start of this season and from game to game, Marco Silva once again made several changes to Benfica’s starting lineup. Six players were removed from the eleven compared to the team that started last Thursday’s match against Omonia, in Cyprus. Trubin, Circati, El Karaouni, Manu Silva, Claudio Echeverri and Andreas Schjelderup left for Samuel Soares, Clément Lenglet, Samuel Dahl, João Palhinha, Gianluca Prestianni and Sudakov.
In the first half at the Municipal Stadium of Ponta Delgada, Benfica faced numerous difficulties, as they played against the wind that blew intensely in Ponta Delgada. The Azoreans, in turn, brought the lesson studied, pressed high and won the battle in midfield, removing the Eagles’ connection to the attack, and took advantage of this favorable wind factor to hurt the Reds… who ended the initial stage without a shot on goal from Lucas França’s guard.
Santa Clara created danger on several occasions near the goal from Samuel Soares, the first time in the 11th minute. Served by VinÃcius Lopes, Fernando appeared in the heart of the area and shot first time for a good save by Samuel Soares. Further ahead it was Lucas Soares who tested the Reds’ guardian’s attention.
The home team was better and ended up taking the lead in the 32nd minute. Following a corner kick in favor of Santa Clara, the ball ended up hitting first Samuel Dahl’s arm and then Clément Lenglet’s hand. Referee Cláudio Pereira had no doubts and immediately pointed to the penalty mark, in a move that would be validated by the VAR. Fernando, called to convert, did not waste the maximum punishment. To close the first half, Tiago Ribeiro, when taking the free-kick, was in a good position to aim for the Reds’ net, but shot over the crossbar.
Everything changed in the second half
Unhappy with his players’ performance in the first half, Marco Silva changed two players at half-time. Rafa Silva and Sudakov remained on the bench for the appearances of Andreas Schjelderup and Dodi Lukebakio. And it didn’t take many minutes for Benfica to show a different image to the one they had left in the first half of this trip to the Autonomous Region of the Azores.
Benfica tried a stronger rhythm in the second half and Dodi Lukebakio, in the 56th minute, crossed tensely from the right. Emanuel Moreira made a terrible cut, which almost resulted in an own goal, but Lucas França saved it with great style. On the opposite side, in the 58th minute, Tiago Ribeiro entered the area and tried to serve VinÃcius Lopes at the far post, but Dahl made a spectacular cut. The same Tiago Ribeiro, in the 60th minute, took a direct free kick and shot from distance for a good save by Samuel Soares.
The red team increased their production clearly in the second half and turned the score around in the space of six minutes, with Prestianni being in evidence in both plays. In the 62nd minute, the Argentine deceived Lucas Soares on the left, ran down the wing, entered the area and served Pavlidis in the heart of the small area. The Greek only had to score the 200th goal in his football career. In the 68th minute, Prestianni combined with Lukebakio on the right midfield, took advantage of a series of rebounds and shot for the turnaround.
(News being updated)
