Benfica are back within a point of Primeira Liga leaders Sporting after defeating ten-man Rio Ave 4-1 at the Estádio da Luz, this Sunday evening.
The Eagles went a goal down early through former player Guga before equalising in the first half via Angel Di Maria, setting up a big second half for Roger Schmidt’s men.
A red card for Aderllan Santos facilitated the hosts’ task of completing the turnaround with a numerical advantage, helping on goals from António Silva, debutant Marcos Leonardo and João Mário to complete a 4-1 victory.
Up against the underperforming Vilacondenses, Schmidt named an unchanged XI to the one that defeated Arouca 3-0 last Saturday, hoping for a repeat in front of their home crowd.
Rio Ave emerged full of surprises, however, taking advantage of an early venture into the Benfica area to strike gold via Guga in the 9th minute, silencing the Luz against his old club.
Benfica required an alert Anatoliy Trubin to prevent matters from worsening, stopping Fábio Ronaldo in the 16th minute before pulling off another key stop versus Emmanuel Boateng, threatening with his head.
Against the run of play, a quick attack commanded by Rafa Silva enabled Di Maria to find the top corner and level the score in the 29th minute, increasing the noise and expectation in the Portuguese capital.
Benfica pressed on in search of a double before coming up against an inspired Jhonatan between the sticks, threatening to take some shine away from his opposite number Trubin in his quest to keep the scores level going into the break.
Lightning struck twice for Rio Ava after a blistering quick start to the second period, hitting the woodwork on two separate occasions through Boateng and João Graça.
But the game hit a twist in the 58th minute after a handball from Aderllan earned the centre back a second yellow card and left Rio Ave facing a minimum of 30 minutes of football reduced to ten men.
It took Benfica just three minutes to take advantage and the goal that’d place them ahead came from António Silva inside the box, providing a striker’s finish to fire past Jhonatan.
From one promising star to another, the night saw Marcos Leonardo mark his debut and the night with a goal on his first outing as a Benfica player, heading in a Frederik Aursnes cross to make it 3-1 in the 80th minute.
The Brazilian striker, alongside Tiago Gouveia, provided a leggy Rio Ave headaches after headaches in search of a killer fourth goal, reserved for João Mário in the 91st minute with a casual tap-in.
Benfica’s win sees them move back to being a point behind first-placed Sporting, maintaining the picture at the top of the table.
By Patrick Ribeiro
Benfica XI: Anatoliy Trubin - Morato, Nicolas Otamendi, António Silva, Frederik Aursnes (Tomás Araujo, 86’) - João Neves (Chiquinho, 92’), Orkun Kökçü (Florentino Luís, 63’), João Mário - Rafa Silva, Di María (Tiago Gouveia, 63’), Arthur Cabral (Marcos Leonardo, 63’)
Rio Ave XI: Jhonatan, Miguel Nóbrega (Mateo Tanlongo, 86’), Aderllan Santos, Josué - Fábio Ronaldo, Guga, Amine (Aziz, 86’), João Graça (Bruno Ventura, 58’), Costinha - Joca (Zé Manuel, 58’), Emmanuel Boateng (Patrick William, 64’)
