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Benfica hit form to shatter Nacional

Nacional 0-3 Benfica

Benfica finally broke their duck in the Liga when they got their first win by crushing Nacional 3-0 in a comprehensive away win. A brace by Cardozo and a nifty goal by Rui Costa was more than enough to see Benfica move a little closer to the top of the table. The Eagles now sit in 5th place with 5 points from three games.

Coming off their hard-fought Champions League qualifying victory against FC Copenhagen in midweek, the Lisbon side mounted pressure right from the start and fired in a couple of shots on goal from Cardozo and Di Maria in the opening 15 minutes.

Benaglio must have been caught in a trance with Benfica’s movement because in the 18th minute the Nacional goalkeeper cleared the ball straight to Cardozo, who ran in on goal and slipped the ball into the near post to make it 1-0.

Nacional did not show much in attack in the first half, but did have a good opportunity in the 32nd minute when Fellype Gabriel was inadvertently set up nicely by Petit on the edge of the box and he ripped the shot straight at Quim who managed to deflect the ball for a corner kick.

Di Maria impresses

After the re-start, Benfica came out looking to put the game away early and had two great opportunities in a space of four minutes. Di Maria ran down the left flank, catching the ball before it went out of play, and crossed into the 6-yard box. Nuno Gomes’ outstretched leg touched the ball wide when a header seemed the better option, and the chance went begging.

In the 58th minute Gomes again benefited from good work by Di Maria but headed the ball just wide at the far post. Maxi Pereira almost scored a goal on his debut in the 61st minute, when, with only Benaglio to beat, he fired his shot straight at the goalkeeper.

Nacional did not show much sign of life in the second half, but when they did, they kept Benfica on their toes as Fellype Gabriel let fly with a shot that just went over the bar in the 62nd minute. Ze Vitor then had an effort on goal that fizzed over Quim’s crossbar.

Rui Costa magic

Those missed chances proved costly for the home team as Benfica struck twice in eight minutes. First it was Rui Costa who doubled the visitors lead in the 69th minute when he jinked his way past three defenders and released a hard, low shot that made its way into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

In the 77th minute Benfica were awarded a penalty after Benaglio took down Maxi Pereira inside the box. Cardozo stepped up to take the spot kick and made no mistake as the Paraguayan almost ripped the twine out of the goal with his authoritative strike into the top left-hand corner to seal the win.

Benfica will be happy to get the monkey off of their backs as they try to string a few more victories together and close the gap on Maritimo and FC Porto. Nacional will use the international break to lick their wounds after the shellacking they took.

Nacional:
Benaglio, Patacas, Avalos, Ricardo Fernandes, Alonso, Cleber, Bruno Amaro (Ze Vitor, 46), Juliano Spadacio, Fellype Gabriel, Edu Sales, Lipatin
Yellow Cards: Cleber (18), Benaglio (76)

Benfica:
Quim, Luis Filipe, Miguel Vitor, Katsouranis, Leo, Petit, Rui Costa, Maxi Pereira, Di Maria (Romeu Ribeiro, 84), Cardozo, Nuno Gomes (Cristian Rodriguez, 63)
Yellow Cards: Miguel Vitor (59), Katsouranis (65), Romeu Ribeiro (92)

Goals:
[0-1] Cardozo, 18
[0-2] Rui Costa, 69
[0-3] Cardozo, 77 (pen)