Dand four in four and always adding up. Benfica won again in the single league phase of the Europa League and triumphed at home, on Thursday night, against the Polish side Lech Poznán, 3-1, in a game that was valid for the fourth round.
At Estádio da Luz, in Lisbon, Rafa Silva opened the scoring in the first half, before the usual goal from Argentine Gianluca Prestianni. The visitors still pulled one back through Leo Bengtsson, but the Eagles’ triumph continued, as they scored through Sudakov towards the end.
Benfica thus remains in the lead in this league phase, although with the same points as the English side of Bournemouth and the Hungarian side of Ferencváros, who this afternoon had beaten Ruben Amorim’s AC Milan.
Game film:
Returning to the Estádio da Luz for the European competitions, and days after the slim victory against Alverca, Marco Silva once again revolutionized the Reds’ starting eleven. Tomás Araújo and Andreas Schjelderup were the only ones who remained compared to the team that started the duel against the Ribatejos last Monday.
Managing the pace of the match practically from the opening whistle, the Eagles entered the match at full speed and after five minutes they were already in the lead. Norwegian Andreas Schjelderup sent it low into the small area and Lis avoided the danger as best he could. Rafa Silva was faster and took advantage of an incomplete save by the goalkeeper to, in the second, open the scoring in Luz.
The early goal predicted that Benfica could take the game to a more comfortable lead in the first half, but that was not what happened. Despite numerous dangerous occasions, the Lisbon team were unable to escape the minimum margin until half-time. Highlight was two initiatives by Claudio Echeverri, in the 10th and 14th minutes, with the Argentine’s shots going close to the goal. Closing the first half, and after some beautiful work, Andreas Schjelderup tipped the ball over Lis and only a very fortunate cut from Yegbe, who headed towards the bar, prevented the Eagles from scoring.
The regular’s goal… and the pressure until Sudakov’s goal
The return of the locker room brought Benfica with more hunger and in search of another goal. In the 50th minute, Rafa Silva appeared behind the Lech Poznán defense and, in Lis’s face, saw defender Gurgul block a shot that sealed a goal. Soon after, the young Banjaqui got on his left foot and shot hard for Mateusz Lis to save (56 minutes).
Around game time, Marco Silva changed the team and introduced Argentine Gianluca Prestianni into the match, who would once again have a decisive influence in favor of the Reds.
(News being updated)
