Konstantinos Mitroglou was the hero for Benfica as his early goal has put Benfica on course for a third consectuvie Primeira Liga title. Sporting, with more of the play and having wasted chances, will look back at the game as one of the most painful defeats in recent memory.
There was good news for Sporting pre-match when Adrien Silva, who missed the Bayer Leverkusen clash after having picked up an injury before the match, passed a late fitness test. However, Benfica lost goalkeeper Júlio César, who was injured in training yesterday, meaning 22-year old Ederson was required to the start. Indeed, the defences appeared to be both teams' weak points. Sporting, without Paulo Oliveira still, using the unproven combination of Sebastián Coates and Ewerton at centre-back.
There was a thunderous atmosphere in the Estádio José Alvalade, as expected, for what is certainly the most important Lisbon derby in several years. The subplots were plenty, Jorge Jesus, André Carrillo, as well as off-field allegations from both sides over the past year, but only first place in the Primeira Liga really mattered on the night.
It was Benfica, experienced at winning titles in recent years, who started off the better in a fast-paced opening without much in the way of goalmouth activity.
Benfica take their chance
The first real chance of the game provided the match with its opener. Andreas Samaris shot from long range wasn’t going to threaten Rui Patrício. However, the shot took a deflection of William Carvalho and Konstantinos Mitroglou was the man in the right place at the right time to slot the ball past Rui Patrício.
From that point on, the home side started to find their footing in the game again. Sporting’s best chance of the first half came 5 minutes before the interval when a Sporting corner fell to Jefferson outside of the area. The Brazilian left-back unleashed a venomous shot that thundered Ederson’s bar and bounced out.
After the break the game was all Sporting’s as Benfica looked set to sit back, counter-attack and slow the game down as much as possible. They made life as difficult as possible for Sporting, and Lindelöf and Jardel were huge for Benfica at the back and managed to keep Islam Slimani quiet.
Bryan Ruiz misses 2 golden chances
One man they couldn’t keep quiet was Bryan Ruiz, fortunately for Benfica though, he missed 2 open goals. The second, the miss of the season, with an empty net from just yards away, will not be one for Ruiz or Sporting fans to remember in the future.
Benfica rode their luck defensively and were also lucky late on in the game when Renato Sanches should have been sent off for a horrible lunge on Ruiz in the 87th minute. Artur Soares Dias only gave a yellow and instead gave a red card to Adrien Silva. At this point Adrien was on the bench after having being substituted during the second half, but he said something to the referee that warranted a straight red card.
In the 5 minutes of stoppage time Sporting were unable to break Benfica down, the story of the second half despite the lion’s hare of possession and chances.
It means Benfica now have the Primeira Liga title in their hands. Benfica could have some stumbling blocks on their way to the title yet, with Braga and Vitória de Guimarães their trickiest opponents but with both of those games at home, they’re now well on the way to glory again. For Rui Vitória, this will be a particularly memorable night.
Sporting are suffering from problems creatively that Téofilo Gutiérrez, Hernan Barcos and Bryan Ruiz aren’t capable of solving and have a much tougher run-in at the end of the season with Porto still to come. Ultimately though, this will go down as Sporting’s most disappointing night in recent years from the President to the Manager, players and fans.
by Richard Cole
Sporting XI: Rui Patrício; João Pereira (Ezequiel Schelotto 77'), Sebastián Coates, Ewerton, Jefferson; William Carvalho, Adrien Silva (Gelson Martins, 77'), João Mário, Bruno César (Teófilo Gutiérrez, 59'); Bryan Ruiz, Islam Slimani
Benfica XI: Ederson; André Almeida, Victor Lindelöf, Jardel, Eliseu; Andreas Samaris, Renato Sanches; Pizzi (Ljubomir Fejsa, 73'), Nicolás Gaitán; Konstantinos Mitroglou (Raúl Jiménez, 67'), Jonas (Eduardo Salvio, 78')
Goals:
[0-1] Konstantinos Mitroglou, 20'
