Quality and attitude in the right doses

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS 

Benfica picked up another win in the Liga Betclic, after beating SC Braga by 0-1 in Minho, on matchday 14. A goal from Tengstedt, as early as the 3rd minute, made the difference in a great game of football, where the reds showed great unity to climb to the top of the Championship.

In the visit to the 4th place, Benfica started with Trubin, Aursnes, António Silva, Otamendi, Morato, João Neves, Kökcü, Di María, João Mário, Rafa and Tengstedt.

Just after 2', Morato was yellow carded for an involuntary touch to Álvaro Djaló's face, and, from that free kick, the Benfica goal was born. Well-placed, João Mário intercepted the ball, and launched a counter-attack, but saw his pass to Rafa intercepted by Zalazar. However, the SC Braga midfielder carried the ball too far and was dispossessed by the No. 20, who found Kökcü free in the central corridor. The latter made a pass to Tengstedt, who sped up the field and beat Matheus to open the scoring in the 3rd minute.

In the 10th minute, António Silva headed the ball slightly over the bar after a corner kick taken by Di María. Two minutes later, the assistant referee disallowed Rafa's goal to make it 0-2: the VAR confirmed that he was 60 centimeters ahead of the penultimate defender at the moment of Di María's pass. The Benfica striker's beautiful lob over Matheus was thus rendered ineffective.

The Eagles' response was overwhelming, and only the crossbar prevented them from increasing their lead. In the 17th minute, a fine play by João Mário and Rafa culminated in Di María's left-footed shot that hit the crossbar.

Always on top of the game, based on aggressive duels and dizzying transitions, Benfica came close to making it 0-2 again after 27 minutes. Following a free kick won by Tengstedt outside the box on the right, Matheus tried to punch away Di María's cross, but the ball hit Otamendi's body and bounced off the post before José Fonte cleared it off the line.

The final moment of a dizzying first half belonged to the Glorioso. Otamendi, on the night of his 150th official game with the eagle on his chest, played a great pass to Di María, who touched the ball to Tengstedt. Tengstedt made a powerful shot but Matheus made the save. 

At the start of the second half, Benfica had a clear opportunity to kill the game off. In another great breakout from his area, Aursnes found Tengstedt and the latter passed to Rafa. Putting on his sixth gear, the No. 27 took off towards the box, worked well over José Fonte and passed the ball to João Mário, who, with everything to score, shot weakly into Matheus' hands. 

The first time they found space in the central corridor, Djaló and Banza combined well at speed, and the Liga Betclic top scorer's curling shot was stopped by Trubin. In the 61st minute, Roger Schmidt freshened up the attack, bringing on Musa in place of Tengstedt.

In the 68th minute, the Minhotos celebrated 1-1, but the play was disallowed by the linesman for an irregular position from Ricardo Horta: the lines later showed that the Portuguese international was 11 centimeters too far forward.

In the 78th minute, Trubin made an incomplete save from Banza's treacherous header and then imposed himself on Otamendi and Ricardo Horta to keep the ball. In the next minute, Roger Schmidt changed the team again, swapping Di María and Rafa for Florentino and Guedes.

In an all-or-nothing game, Abel Ruiz, Vítor Carvalho and Rony Lopes were brought on for the hosts, but the stage was reserved for Trubin. In the 88th minute, the Benfica goalkeeper took a subtle touch to stop Victor Gómez's cross from reaching Abel Ruiz, and at 90'+3', he made a huge intervention with his right foot to stop a low shot from Banza.

In the 90'+5' minute, Otamendi picked up his fifth yellow card in the Liga Betclic for allegedly wasting time in restoring the ball to play and will miss the Eagles' matchday 15 clash against Famalicão on December 29.

Benfica will be back on the pitch next Thursday, December 21, against AVS, on matchday 3 of Group B of the League Cup. The clash, at Estádio da Luz, will kick off at 8:15 pm.