The feel-good factor under Marco Silva continued at Estádio da Luz tonight for Benfica supporters, with a comfortable 3-1 win over Polish champions Lech Poznan.
Rafa Silva opened the scoring early on, and substitute Gianluca Prestianni doubled the home team’s lead in the second half. The Poles pulled one back through Leo Bengtsson after a horrendous Enzo Barrenechea mistake, but the Argentine made amends soon afterwards, providing a clever assist for Georgiy Sudakov to make the game safe.
Sahir Bhojwani reports from Estádio da Luz.
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First half
Marco Silva opted to rotate his squad for this affair, going with young striker Jhon Durán in place of the team’s leading scorer Vangelis Pavlidi. Durán responded with the first shot of the match in the 3rd minute, a sign of things to come?
Shortly after, the breakthrough came, with the build-up beginning on the left. A low cross from Andreas Schjelderup should have been gathered by stopper Mateusz Lis. The keeper’s inability to hang on saw the ball fall to midfielder Rafa Silva, who simply had to poke in from 5 yards out.
Claudio Echeverri, who was given the nod tonight in the No. 10 role, got his first shot off in the 9th minute. Schjelderup and Echeverri continued to pull the strings as the match progressed, combining in the 14th minute with some sharp play that ended with Echeverri’s second shot of the night, this one also sailing over the crossbar.
On the defensive front Daniel Banjaqui reminded us all why he is considered such a promising talent. The 18-year-old right back was outstanding in the first half, handling Poznan’s left-sided winger Daniel Hakans with an ease and composure of a veteran defender. He was even able to push up and impose himself in the opposition’s box on a few occasions, nearly putting one in the back of the net later in the game.
Just before the break, Schjelderup had a glorious chance to double the lead, his chip over the visiting keeper, however, was cleared in unorthodox fashion by Terry Yegbe just as it was creeping towards the goal.
Second half
Silva started the second half as he did the first, with another great opportunity to score. A well-timed run connected with a Souffian El Karouani through ball from the left wing, but the defender pulled off a timely block.
The Polish side had endured the might of Benfica’s attacking force for the bulk of the contest, but at the 60-minute mark, it was still only a one-goal deficit. Poznan began to grow into the tie with several half-chances of their own.
The Eagles responded in the 62nd minute with a triple substitution from manager Silva, with Enzo Barrenechea, Gianluca Prestianni and Fredrik Aursnes coming on. Prestianni, who has been the Eagles’ standout player this season, made an instant impact, scoring within five minutes, driving a low and powerful left footed shot past Lis.
For big clubs like Benfica, playing out of the back seems to have become the norm around Europe. Still, that method can backfire if not executed properly. In the 72nd minute, Benfica gifted a goal back when Barrenechea’s careless pass across his own box went straight to a streaking Leo Bengtsson. The forward, who had scored Poznan’s only European goal of the league stage, made no mistake, driving his shot into the roof of the net as Anatoliy Trubin could only watch.
As the match opened up, Benfica had space to work with and created chance after chance with Durán and Lukebakio nearly getting their names on the scoresheet. In the end it was Sudakov who was able to capitalise, making it 3-1 in the 90th minute to rubberstamp another three points for Benfica.
Benfica: Anatoliy Trubin, Daniel Banjaqui, Alessandro Circati, Tomás Araújo (João Palhinha, 69’), Souffian El Karouani, Georgiy Sudakov, Manu Silva (Fredrik Aursnes, 63’), Rafa Silva (Gianluca Prestianni, 62’), Claudio Echeverri, Andreas Schjelderup (Dodi Lukebakio, 82), Jhon Durán
Lech Poznan: Mateusz Lis, Joel Pereira (Robert Gumny, 80’), Mateusz Skrzypczak, Terry Yegbe, Michal Gurgul, Antoni Kozubal (Gustav Berggren, 71’), Radoslaw Murawski, Pablo Rodríguez (Filip Jagiello, 71’), Patrik Walemark (Leo Bengtsson, 71’), Yannick Agnero, Daniel Hakans (Luis Palma, 62’)
Goals:
[1-0] Rafa Silva, 6’
[2-0] Gianluca Prestianni67’
[2-1] Leo Bengtsson, 72’
[3-1] Georgiy Sudakov, 90’
