This night Benfica eliminated Portimonense from the Portuguese Cup in the 3rd round. The reds came to Estádio Municipal de Portimão to win 2-0, with goals from Bruno César and Rodrigo, both in the second half.
In anticipation of the match, the coach of Portimonense João Bastos asked the Algarve fans to be the 12th player of the home team. But, in the crowded stands of the Alvinegros stadium, red was the predominant color.
Portimonense entered the field with the lesson well studied, trying to hinder the action of Benfica's attackers. João Bastos joined the midfield and defense lines, and assembled a "web" that held the attacking movements of the incarnates.
Despite this, Benfica managed to break through the “double barrier” in the Algarve for the first time in the 6th minute. David Simão worked well on the edge of the area and found Nélson Oliveira, in the back of the defense, who shot just past the post.
Alvinegros were looking for quick exits to the attack, taking advantage of the advance of the Benfica team and, at 15 minutes, could have reached the goal. Rafa broke through on the left, found Fabrício on the edge of the area and the Brazilian midfielder shot hard for Eduardo's tight defense for a corner.
At 17 minutes, the best opportunity of the entire first half appeared for Benfica. In a free-kick at the entrance of the area, Capdevila hit the ball with a crash against Goda's goal post.
Benfica's difficulty in reaching the Portimonense area remained until the end of the first half. The Algarvians were always very good at defending and João Bastos' strategy worked in full.
At half-time, Jorge Jesus made the first change in the team and replaced Nélson Oliveira with Saviola, but the tone of the game did not change and the dead balls were the only way to create danger near Goda's goal.
And the first goal came even in a set-piece in the 59th minute. Bruno César, in a free-kick near the corner of the right-hand area, shot hard and opened the scoring.
With the goal of the reds, Portimonense tried to move up more in the field and was forced to give more space to Benfica, who took the opportunity to score the second goal for Rodrigo, passing by Bruno César.
The Algarvian team was close to scoring by Ben Traoré, who came in for Jonas, but the Portimonense forward's header went slightly wide and the result was unchanged.
Teams:
PORTIMONIAN: Goda, Ricardo Pessoa, Eliézio, Ruben Fernandes and Ricardo Nunes; Semedo, Jonas, Wakaso and Fabricio; Rafa and Vitor Gonçalves. Substitutes: Ivo, Hammes, Organist, Ben Traoré, Marco Tiago, Simi and Tristan Plummer
BENFICA: Eduardo, Miguel Vitor, Luisão, Garay and Capdevila; Matic, David Simão, Nolito and Bruno César. Rodrigo and Nelson Oliveira. Substitutes: Mika, Emerson, Rodrigo Mora, Witsel, Saviola, Jardel and Luís Martins
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