Cardozo keeps Benfica on track
Lightning start by Sporting sees off Guimaraes
Benfica overcame another tricky hurdle to stay in pole position in the Liga Sagres title race. A second-half Oscar Cardozo goal gave the Eagles a deserved victory in Madeira against Nacional, in so doing propelling Jorge Jesus’ team back to the top of the table, restoring their 3-point advantage over Braga.
Lisbon rivals Sporting also won, thanks to an outstanding opening half hour of football at the Alvalade, rewarded by goals from Grimi, Liedson and Saleiro. Vitoria de Guimaraes reduced the deficit in the second half through Valdomiro, but fell five points behind Sporting in the quest for fourth place and Europa League qualification.
Nacional 0-1 Benfica
In a dull first half the hosts did a good job of containing Benfica’s fearsome attack, with little goalmouth action seen at either end of the pitch.
That all changed after the break with Benfica coming out with renewed vigour and putting Nacional under heavy pressure. Good chances had already come and gone before Benfica were handed the perfect opportunity to break the deadlock in the 62nd minute. Diego’s foul on David Luiz was judged inside the box by the referee, but Cardozo continued his indifferent record from the spot this season by blasting wide.
The Paraguayan did not have to wait long to make up for that miss, however, as he struck just two minutes later after some super approach play by Ruben Amorim. Cardozo missed another clear chance to bury the game, and it needed a fine save from Quim to keep out a late Felipe Lopes header and guarantee the three points for Benfica.
The Lisbon giants now face three matches that will have a huge bearing on their season. On Thursday Benfica travel to Marseille for the Europa League 2nd-leg match, before taking on FC Porto in the Carlsberg Cup final one week today in the Algarve Stadium. Then on Saturday 27 March there is a potential championship showdown match between Benfica and Braga at the Estadio da Luz.
Nacional:
Bracali, Patacas, Halliche, Felipe Lopes, Nuno Pinto (Diego, 58, (Amuneke, 76)), Joao Aurelio, Cleber, Luis Alberto, Leandro Salino (Pecnik, 68), Thiago Gentil, Edgar Silva
Yellow Cards: Felipe Lopes, Joao Aurelio, Cleber
Benfica:
Quim, Ruben Amorim, Luisao, David Luiz, Fabio Coentrao, Javi Garcia, Ramires, Aimar (Maxi, 71), Di Maria (Alan Kardec, 87), Saviola (Cesar Peixoto, 82), Cardozo
Yellow Cards: Ramires, Aimar, David Luiz
Goals:
[1-0] Cardozo, 64
Sporting 3-1 Vitoria de Guimaraes
With Sporting opening the doors free of charge to the fairer sex to mark the first game at the Alvalade since International Women’s Day, a big crowd in Lisbon were treated to a quite breathtaking opening half hour of football from the home team.
In the very first minute a rapid 5-man passing move created the first of many moments of panic in the Vitoria defence, and after six minutes of incessant pressure Sporting took the lead as Grimi headed in Miguel Veloso’s cross, with the referee waving away protests – legitimate as it turned out – for offside.
Two minutes later and it was 2-0 as Liedson robbed big Brazilian defender Gustavo Lazzaretti, advanced into the box and curled a sumptuous shot round Nilson into the top right-hand corner of the net.
An unstoppable avalanche of attacking play continued to leave the away team at sixes and sevens, and Carlos Saleiro had the ball in the net again just minutes later, only for his effort to be ruled out for offside. TV replays showed that Guimaraes were this time the benefactors of another mistake from the officials.
Saleiro strikes
The impressive Saleiro got his goal soon enough though, combining well with Liedson before producing a deft chip to beat Nilson and make it 3-0 with just 20 minutes gone.
Sporting continued to lay siege to the Vitoria goal until the half-hour mark, from which point the team clearly took their foot off the accelerator, deciding to conserve energy for their important Europa League match against Atletico Madrid on Thursday.
The visitors improved drastically as the game went on. Valdomiro scored with a thumping header on 66 minutes, and things could have got complicated for Sporting if Rui Patricio had not managed to tip Andrezinho’s excellent free-kick onto the post or if either to two loud penalty shouts had been given for Guimaraes.
Sporting held on and the victory consolidates fourth place in the standings for the Lions against their nearest rival for the final Europa League berth.
Sporting:
Rui Patricio, Joao Pereira, Tonel, Polga, Grimi, Pedro Mendes, Miguel Veloso, Joao Moutinho, Izmailov, Saleiro, Liedson
Yellow Cards: Tonel, Miguel Veloso, Joao Moutinho, Liedson
V. Guimaraes:
Nilson, Alex, Gustavo Lazaretti, Valdomiro, Andrezinho, Joao Alves, Moreno, Rui Miguel, Nuno Assis, Desmarets, Roberto
Yellow Cards: Gustavo Lazaretti, Valdomiro, Moreno
Goals:
[1-0] Grimi, 7
[2-0] Liedson, 8
[3-0] Saleiro, 20
[3-1] Valdomiro, 66
by Tom Kundert
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Cheers
As for Benfica they have amazing depth. Since the start of the season Jesus has built a great team which almost every position has a replacement. The only area I would like to see some more quality from the subs is defense. That should be able to score 2+ goals away this week.