Makukula gives Benfica narrow lead

Benfica 1-0 Nuremberg

Benfica drew first blood in their Round of 32 Uefa Cup tie as they beat Nuremberg 1-0 at the Estadio da Luz. Makukula did the honours, scoring his first goal in a Benfica shirt to give Portuguese club a slim lead to take to Germany next week.

A tepid first half with neither team creating any clear-cut opportunities to score seemed be drawing to an inevitable goalless conclusion, but the hosts broke the deadlock just before the interval.

Rui Costa spotted Makukula at the edge of the box and the Benfica new boy hit a strong right foot effort towards the centre of the goal, which goalkeeper Blazek made a mess of, allowing the ball to creep under him and into the net to make it 1-0.

With a one-goal lead heading into the second half, Benfica increased their tempo and threatened to dictate the match, but it was the Bundesliga outfit who created the few goalscoring chances.

In the 74th minute Engelhardt went close for the visitors, forcing Quim into a good save. Then substitute Kristiansen went on a dangerous run that the solid Luisao managed to shut down for an inconsequential corner.

Benfica were fortunate not to concede an equaliser just before the final whistle as Reinhardt completely miss-kicked an Engelhardt cross, allowing the ball to roll harmlessly away from the danger zone.

Far from a convincing performance from Benfica but a win by the smallest of margins and a clean sheet gives them the upper hand heading into the second-leg.

Nuremberg were solid defensively on the night, but will have to open up at home and try to score if they want to advance to the next round, and an open game is likely to play into Benfica’s hands.

Benfica:
Quim, Nelson, Luisao, Katsouranis, Leo, Petit, Nuno Assis (Adu, 85), Rui Costa, Cristian Rodriguez (David Luiz, 86), Cardozo (Di Maria, 59), Makukula
Yellow Cards: Nelson (22), Petit (87)

Nuremberg:
Blazek, Reinhardt, Glauber, Wolf, Pinola, Galasek, Kluge, Engelhardt, Adler (Kristiansen, 46), Koller, Saenko
Yellow Cards: Wolf (65), Pinola (87)

Goals:
[1-0] Makukula, 43