Benfica’s new era under Marco Silva got off to a poor start as the Portuguese giants were beaten by Swiss Super League team St. Gallen.
The impressive Aliou Baldé put the hosts ahead in the 37th minute but Benfica soon drew level through Rafa Silva. There were chances for both teams in the second half, with Tom Gaal’s header giving St. Gallen a deserved win in the first leg of the Europa League qualifier.
St. Gallen take control
Benfica almost took an early lead when Pavlidis was played through, goalkeeper Ati-Zigi saved the Greek striker’s shot, the ball fell invitingly to Sudakov, but the Ukrainian’s effort was blocked.
That was as good as it got for Benfica in the opening exchanges as the home team, roared on by tremendous vocal support, rounded Trubin’s goal with menace.
Several efforts were fired over the bar, Christian Witzig guilty of a particularly bad miss when he had a clear header in front of goal but sent it too high.
Benfica did not heed the warning and soon afterwards St. Gallen took the lead. Guinea-Conakry striker Aliou Baldé cut in from the left touchline, drove into the box and fired a snapshot past Trubin from what looked like an impossible angle.
Baldé was causing all sorts of problems with his pace and tenacity and he looked certain to double St. Gallen’s lead when played clean through on goal, but Trubin spread himself well to make a vital save.
Pavlidis tees up Rafa
Two minutes later and it was all square. Pavlidis dropped deep, picked up the ball and slipped a delightful pass into the path of Rafa Silva, who advanced into the box and coolly slotted home.
The second half started in frenetic fashion, with both sides attacking with abandon. Stevanovic and Miguel Figueiredo fired efforts over the bar at either side of the pitch, before a rasping Sudakov shot from the edge of the box brought a flying save out of Ati-Zigi.
A flurry of substitutions disrupted the flow of the game, with Benfica appearing to get a firmer grip on proceedings with the introduction of livewire Tiago Gouveia.
But it was St. Gallen who would retake the lead, with Benfica’s defence again at fault. A free-kick was swung to the far post by Lukas Daschner and the completely unmarked Tom Gaal did not even have to jump to head past Trubin.
Changes needed
Benfica can point to their long list of absentees (Andreas Schjelderup, Fredrik Aursnes, Richard Ríos, Dodi Lukebakio, Tomás Araújo, Amar Dedic, Leandro Barreiro, Gianluca Prestianni, Jhon Durán) as a mitigating factor for the poor performance.
But it will need a much-improved display to turn the tie around at the Estádio da Luz next Thursday and avoid an embarrassingly early exit from Europe.
Marco Silva, Benfica coach:
“Lot’s of things went wrong. It wasn’t the fact we lost the game, but the way we lost it.
“We did not play at the level we are capable of, regardless of the pre-season problems I’ve talked about in the last few days. I said it they would not be an excuse and they aren’t.
“This is a sign that there is a lot of improving to do.”
