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Weldon rocket stuns pallid Benfica

Belenenses 1-0 Benfica

Belenenses pulled off a huge upset and registered a well-deserved 1-0 win at the Restelo against cross-town rivals Benfica in the Lisbon derby. A second-half Weldon goal was enough to see off the Eagles, as Benfica slumped to their second consecutive loss in the Liga.

It was a pitiful display of football put on by Benfica as the team barely got out of neutral for the whole match and paid dearly for such a listless effort. The loss, coupled with FC Porto’s win against Vitoria Guimaraes, now sees Camacho’s team lagging 10 points behind first place, virtually ruling them out of the running for the championship.

It was an uneventful start to the match as Benfica were a team without any ideas and Belenenses were dead set in playing a tight defensive game, happy to hit on the counter attack.

In the 14th minute the home side made muted penalty claims for a foul on Roncatto, but the referee saw nothing in it. Belenenses started to impose themselves after that point and Silas missed a sitter in the 18th minute from a Ze Pedro cross.

Costa danger

Benfica started to show some life late in the opening half as Rui Costa nutmegged Gomez to gain entry into Belenenses 18 yard box, and with two Benfica forwards waiting for the ball, Devic did well to make sure the pass didn’t reach them. Costa was at it again when he intercepted a ball deep in the Belenenses end of the pitch and spotted a streaking Maxi Pereira on the right, but the Uruguayan’s first touch let him down as Marco smothered the opportunity to score.

The home side were not to be outdone as Rodrigo Alvim was allowed to walk into the Benfica box and release a shot from point-blank range which Quim had to punch away.

The second half was much the same as the opening 45 minutes. It was not the best night to play a match as the winter wind blew ferociously throughout the night, but the fans can justifiably feel aggrieved at the poor entertainment on show.

Finally, in the 71st minute, Ze Pedro launched a long ball towards Weldon. The Belenenses striker ran the ball down with Luisao by his side, but the Benfica defender showed the Brazilian a little daylight which proved costly as the forward took full advantage by entering into the Benfica box and rocketing a stunning shot from the edge of the area which settled nicely into the top corner, giving Quim no chance to make the save.

Spectacular save

Weldon could have doubled the score six minutes later as he got a step on David Luiz, but ended up running out of gas as Quim came out to smother the ball. In the 78th minute, Benfica fans thought that they had equalised as Cardozo hit a shot from inside the six-yard box with his favourite left foot, but Marco made a spectacular save to keep the score at 1-0.

In the 82nd minute Cardozo did have the ball in the net, converting an excellent Freddy Adu cross, but the Paraguayan was rightfully called offside.

A fantastic result for Belenenses who have snapped out of a series of draws with the win; their last victory came in October against Boavista. As for Benfica, they have a lot of work to do if they want to catch FC Porto.

Belenenses:
Marco, Ruben Amorim (Amaral, 50), Devic, Rolando, Rodrigo Alvim (Areias, 58), Gomez, Roncatto (Joao Paulo, 90), Hugo Leal, SIlas, Ze Pedro, Weldon
Yellow Cards: Devic (44)

Benfica:
Quim, Nelsom, Luisao, David Luiz, Leo, Katsouranis (Di Maria, 64), Petit, Maxi Pereira (Nuno Gomes, 64), Rui Costa, Cristian Rodriguez (Adu, 79), Cardozo
Yellow Cards: Nelson (45), Rui Costa (80)

Goals:
[1-0] Weldon, 71