Freddy Adu the hero again as Benfica snatch victory

Benfica 2-1 Maritimo

Freddy Adu is quickly creating quite a reputation for himself as the 18-year-old gave Benfica all three points in a highly entertaining 2-1 win against Maritimo.

The American scored his second goal in a little over a week, which gave the Lisbon side the win after Kanu scored early for the visitors and Cardozo equalized from the penalty spot to shoot Benfica into sole possession of second place in the table.

Adu is slowly becoming Benfica’s secret weapon as the US import has developed a knack for scoring decisive goals late on. The young American scored a last-minute leveller against both Setubal and Estrela da Amadora in the Carlsberg Cup, before hitting yesterday’s 87th-minute winner to give Benfica a dramatic win.

Perfect lob

The match lived up to its billing as the game of the weekend, and it did not take long before a goal arrived as Maritimo opened the scoring in the 9th minute. Ricardo Esteves released Kanu into the Benfica box with a delightful throughball and as Quim committed himself by coming off his line Kanu cleverly chipped the ball over the Portugal international goalkeeper into the open net.

The hosts were level nine minutes later when Ricardo Esteves blocked a Rui Costa cross with his arm for a clear-cut penalty. Cardozo stepped up to convert the penalty and made no mistake as he blasted the ball past Marcos into the left-hand corner to notch his 3rd goal in league play.

The match appeared to swing back in Maritimo’s favour in the 31st minute as Kanu was again released on goal all alone with only Quim to beat, and the Benfica goalkeeper was adjudged to have brought down the striker as the Maritimo man tried to round him. Quim was shown the red card and a penalty was awarded.

Camacho was forced to make an emergency substitution, taking off Edcarlos and sending on Butt to replace Quim. On his Bwin Liga debut, Butt’s first task was to stop a penalty shot taken by Makukula. The Portuguese international ran up to convert the penalty, but it was sensationally saved by the German goalkeeper to keep the scoreline level.

End-to-end action

The sending off actually gave Benfica more impetus as Rui Costa released a firm shot from just outside the box that Marcos did well to keep out. In an end-to-end match, Kanu then almost doubled his personal tally as his header whistled over the crossbar. Benfica responded immediately when Luisao failed by centimetres to redirect a Rui Costa free kick into the net before the referee blew for the end of a breathless first half.

In the second period Benfica continued to press and ask Maritimo all the questions. Katsouranis beat Marcos with his effort in the 61st minute but the ball trickled just past the left post. Cristian Rodriguez came close with a couple of efforts, but the Uruguayan will feel he should have done better in the 77th minute when he latched onto the ball following a goalmouth scramble, only to send his shot over the crossbar.

Leo magic

Just when it seemed that both teams were going to take a share of the spoils, Leo received a pass on the right flank, deep in Maritimo’s territory. The classy Brazilian completely undressed Olberdam with some fancy footwork, to work his way into the Maritimo box. The left-back took a look up and sent the ball into the heart of the Maritimo area where Benfica wonder kid Freddy Adu raced in front of his marker to touch the ball past Marcos and trigger huge celebrations among the big crowd.

A hard fought and well-deserved victory for Benfica as the home side were forced to overcome many obstacles to pull out an important win. The Eagles are slowly building up good momentum and will be looking to keep it going as they take on Setubal for a place in the last four of the Carlsberg Cup on Wednesday.

Maritimo will reflect on the missed penalty and what might have been when they return home to face high-flying Vitoria Guimaraes in another mouth-watering Bwin Liga clash.

Benfica:
Quim, Maxi Pereira (Adu, 80), Luisao, Edcarlos (Butt, 32), Leo, Katsouranis, Binya, Di Maria (Luis Filipe, 46), Rui Costa, Cristian Rodriguez, Cardozo
Yellow Cards: Binya (39), Luisao (82)
Red Cards: Quim (31)

Maritimo:
Marcos, RicardoEsteves, Edigle, Van der Linden, Evaldo, Marcinho (Djalma, 77), Wenio, Olberdam, Marcio Mossoro, Makukula (Briguel, 81), Kanu
Yellow Cards: Ricardo Esteves (17), Wenio (19), Marcinho (75)

Goals:
[0-1] Kanu, 9
[1-1] Cardozo, 18 (pen)
[2-1] Adu, 87