Four-goal Benfica dump Pacos out of Cup

Benfica 4-1 Pacos de Ferreira

Benfica thumped Pacos de Ferreira 4-1 last night at the Estdaio da Luz, in so doing eliminating them from the Portuguese Cup. An early Pedrinha goal was answered four times as Cardozo (2), Rui Costa and Nuno Assis quickly disposed of their Bwin Liga rivals.

The match marked the debut of Benfica’s recent signing, Makukula, but Pacos were not interested in giving him an easy welcome as the visitors jumped on the scoreboard first, in the 2nd minute of play, as an unmarked Pedrinha slotted a Ricardinho cross past Butt.

It would be a while before the hosts got into the game, but the Eagles managed to wiggle their way into the match and start imposing their brand of football. The fruits of their labour paid off as Benfica levelled shortly before the interval. Cardozo slammed a penalty into the net after Tiago Valente had fouled Cristian Rodriguez.

It would be Cardozo again who gave Benfica the lead as the striker converted a second penalty, again Tiago Valente the culprit as the Pacos defender took down Makukula. The Paraguayan, who has now scored 15 goals in all competitions, made no mistake sending Pecanha the wrong way to make it 2-1.

Benfica were a different team in the second half and the two goals knocked the stuffing out of Pacos who showed none of the offensive bravado they had in the opening half.

Double chance goes begging

Makukula and Katsouranis both had glorious chances to put Benfica two up in the 61st minute, but the Portuguese international’s effort was weak and Pecanha came up huge to deny the Greek’s header.

Pacos did manage to have one more kick of the can in the 68th minute, but Wesley was unable to get onto the end of a Ferreira ball which rolled past the Benfica post. The miss would prove costly as Rui Costa put Benfica ahead by two goals when the classy midfielder rocketed a juicy rebound past the Pacos goalkeeper to make it 3-1.

Benfica sealed the match just before full time as Nuno Assis received a splendid pass from Rui Costa and fired an effort into the net from just outside the Pacos area. A character win for Benfica as the Lisbon club now move ahead to the quarter-finals.

Benfica:
Butt, Nelson, Edcarlos (Cardozo, 33), Luisao, Leo, Katsouranis, Maxi Pereira, Nuno Assis, Rui Costa (David Luiz, 90), Rodriguez, Makukula (Di Maria, 86)
Yellow Cards: Katsouranis (56), Nuno Assis (67), Makukula (69)

Pacos de Ferreira:
Pecanha, Ferreira, Roversio, Tiago Valente, Valdir, Paulo Sousa, Filipe Anunciacao, Pedrinha, Ricardinho (Furtado, 81), Wesley (Dede, 83), Cristiano (Edson, 57)
Yellow Cards: Wesley (32), Tiago Valente (40 & 52), Ricardinho (45)
Red Cards: Tiago Valente (51)

Goals:
[0-1] Pedrinha, 2
[1-1] Cardozo, 40 (pen)
[2-1] Cardozo, 52 (pen)
[3-1] Rui Costa, 78
[4-1] Nuno Assis, 90