THE Benfica went to Scotland this Thursday to make the hearts of the fans present at Tynecastle Park flutter, with a rollercoaster of emotions leading up to the second half of the match, which ended in a draw with one goal for each side.
The accurate shots in the second leg of the third qualifying round of the Europa League came just a few seconds apart, in the second 45 minutes of the match.
With a major revolution in the starting eleven, Marco Silva ended up giving minutes to players who still didn’t have much game rhythm, with José Neto and Amar Dedic occupying the wings of the defense, with Manu Silva being new alongside Lenglet in the center.
The midfield featured Richard RÃos in the starting line-up, with compatriot Jhon Durán leading the attack, as well as Andreas Schjelderup and Dodi Lukebákio as attacking wingers.
In the first half, Benfica was the most dangerous team offensively, with several Colombian-style combinations giving the Scottish fans chills, but they never managed to find the back of Reus’ net.
Until half-time, the result didn’t change until the break, with a deafening zero score that had a team on top, as Hearts showed no intention of making a dent in the Lisbon eagles.
But the start of the second half turned out to be very different from the first, as the Edinburgh side went full throttle for the restart, as they threatened the goal defended by Samuel Soares several times, who was trying to block the Scots’ scoring opportunities, before there was even a party at Tynecastle Park.
In the 54th minute there was a shout of a goal in the stands, even though the move was canceled by an offside with very minimal margins, as it was only a few centimeters that he was in an irregular position in the build-up to Calvin Miller’s accurate shot.
After the substitutions, Hearts scored again, with a great goal from Magnusson, in the 77th minute, and ended up counting for the Scots, but this advantage lasted for a very short time, as Lukebákio responded almost in kind, a few seconds later, to complete the final result of the match.
Despite this result, the red team continues on as a result of the rout achieved at Estádio da Luz last Thursday, with a score of 6-1 in favor of the eagles.
Benfica will now face AGF Aarhus in the competition’s playoff, with the first leg match being played at Estádio da Luz, on August 20th, with a trip to Denmark to decide which team will enter the single league phase of the Europa League, on the 27th of that same month.
(News updated at 9:47 pm)
