A victorious script of inspiration and speed

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

Pushed by the tireless support of the Benfiquistas at Estádio da Luz – 60 410 fans on the stands –, Benfica managed to get the third win in a row this Saturday, September 2, against Vitória SC (4-0) in Matchday 4 of the Liga Betclic. Jorge Fernandes, own goal, Di María, Kökcü and Aursnes scored for the eagles.

Samuel Soares, Bah, António Silva, Otamendi, Aursnes, João Neves, Kökcü, Di María, João Mário, Rafa and Musa were chosen by Roger Schmidt to start the match against the league's leader Vitória SC: only one goal conceded in the first three rounds. 

At 11', Benfica opened the scorer. Rafa passed the ball to Di María on the right wing and he crossed ("Trivela") trying to return the ball to his teammate. However, the defender Jorge Fernandes, when trying to intercept the ball, scored for the eagles (1-0). 

Determined to play eye to eye with Benfica from the first minute, Vitória SC suffered a huge setback, at 19'. In a reckless gesture, João Mendes kicked Otamendi in the face and was sent off by the referee Nuno Almeida. Red card!

At 32', João Mário started the 2-0 play. Taking Manu out of the play with a touch of class, the midfielder assisted Rafa in speed and he played touched the ball in Di María's direction, who sent it to the back of the net. The Argentinian international scored his third goal in four Liga Betclic matches.

At 45+5, the 3-0. Rafa saw Di María alone on the right and the number 11 touched to Kökcü who shot to a goal that raised the audience present Estádio da Luz. In his fifth official game, the new player who arrived from Feyenoord scored for the first time.

Losing 3-0 at half-time, Paulo Turra called Zé Carlos and Tomás Händel to replace Miguel Maga and Tiago Silva at the beginning of the second half, but the coach's change bumped into a new strong start of Benfica, that scored the 4-0 a few seconds after the restart. Musa received the ball near the box and served Rafa. The Portuguese got rid of three opponents and isolated João Mário inside the box who shot to a good save, but incomplete, from Bruno Varela, who saw Aursnes exactly on the right place to conclude the play.  

After a triumph that allows the reds to stay overnight in the leadership of the Liga Betclic, in which have now the best attack with 11 goals in four games, Benfica will play again on September 16 at 8:30 pm: the eagles will face Vizela away, after the national teams break.