Eagle of character

HIGHLIGHTS

Hard, but fair. Here is the simple summary of Benfica's 2-3 win over Gil Vicente, in Barcelos, this Saturday, August 26, in Matchday 3 of the Liga Betclic. Di María, Rafa and Musa scored the goals. 

The coach Roger Schmidt only produced a change in relation to the line-up against Estrela da Amadora, last week. João Neves was replaced by Florentino.

The starting XI was: Samuel Soares, Bah, António Silva, Otamendi, Aursnes, Florentino, Kökcü, Di María, João Mário, Rafa and Arthur Cabral.

At 14', with high pace and pressure, Benfica made the first shot in the game, by João Mário - served by Di María -, but the ball missed the target.

At 17', penalty for Benfica. João Mário arrived first and was knocked down by Dominguez.

Di María did not miss the chance to open the scorer in front of the keeper Andrew. (0-1, at 19'). 

At 51’, Di María, was close to score the 0-2, in a free-kick, but Andrew was there to save it.

But the 0-2 was a matter of time. In one of the best moves by eagles, Kökcü, near the red area, took the ball, advanced a few meters and threw it low, but long, to Rafa; the Portuguese led the ball and left it in João Mário. The number 20 saw the rise of the left-back Aursnes, made the pass and the Norwegian put the ball in the heart of the small area, where Rafa appeared to finish the play (53'). Great goal from Benfica! Third game, third goal from Rafa in Liga Betclic. 

A few minutes after, Roger Schmidt called Neres (replaced João Mário) and Tengstedt (replaced Arthur Cabral). 

In one of the few occasions with a little space in the benfiquista area, the team led by Vítor Campelos reached the goal. Touré score the 1-2 (74').

At 90'+3', Rafa was substituted by Musa. And, at 90'+4', Musa stamped the... 1-3 of Benfica. Great pass from João Neves, the ball to reach the Croatian, who, well cleared, shot to the bottom of the net (1-3).

The six minutes of compensation given by João Pinheiro were already stretching, and, in a free-kick near the box, Dominguez executed it accurately and returned scored the final 2-3, at 90'+8'. 

In the next round - Matchday 4 -, the team led by Roger Schmidt hosts Vitória SC, in a match scheduled for Saturday, September 2, at 8:30 pm, at Estádio da Luz.