Battling ten-man Benfica succumb to Getafe

Benfica 1-2 Getafe

Benfica left themselves with a mountain to climb to reach the quarter-finals of the Uefa Cup after losing the home leg of their last-16 duel 2-1 against Getafe.

The hosts played for over 80 minutes with ten men as Oscar Cadozo was sent off early on, and two goals for the Spaniards seemed to have decided the tie. But a goal from second-half substitute Mantorras kept alive the Eagles’ hopes.

The match was preceded by a minute’s silence in memory of Jose Antonio Camacho’s father, who passed away earlier in the week after a long illness.

In the 2nd minute the Spanish outfit immediately showed they would not be afraid to attack with an excellent flowing move that ended with a dangerous cross that Katsouranis managed to hack clear. The hosts responded immediately with Rui Costa firing in a shot from an acute angle that was deflected for a corner.

Cardozo sees red

On eight minutes Benfica were hit with a huge setback when Cardozo caught Belenguer with a flailing elbow and the referee had no hesitation in brandishing a straight red card.

On 14 minutes Di Maria battled towards the edge of the box and won a dangerous free kick on the edge of the Getafe area. Inevitably Rui Costa stepped up and hit his shot well forcing Ustari to palm the ball over the bar.

Getafe were showing some wonderful passing movement and another swift attack led to two dangerous shots raining in on goal, with Quim saving the first effort and the second flashing just over the bar.

On 26 minutes disaster struck for Benfica as De la Red worked himself a yard of space on the edge of the box and hit a firm shot which took a deflection off Edcarlos to wrong-foot Quim and roll into the net.

On what was proving an already difficult night, the Eagles were hit with another setback as Luisao was forced off injured to be replaced by Ivory Coast international Zoro.

On 38 minutes Katsouranis lost the ball in a dangerous position and the ball was swiftly worked forward to Albin who found himself one-on-one against Quim but the Portuguese keeper came out on top. The same player brought a flying save out of Quim on the stroke of half time as the La Liga team continued to look closer to a second than Benfica getting an equaliser.

The first chance of the second half came Benfica’s way when a poor clearance from Ustari fell at the feet of Rui Costa but the midfielder failed to get purchase on his shot with the keeper out of position. Next to threaten was Sepsi with a dangerous shot that whistled just over the bar.

Mantorras lifts crowd

Back came Getafe and on the hour mark as Pablo Hernandez had a good shooting chance but blasted his shot over the bar. The home fans were immediately given a lift as talismanic striker Mantorras was brought on for Di Maria to the usual rousing welcome.

However Getafe took a step nearer the quarter-finals of the competition shortly afterwards as Hernandez picked up the ball on the edge of the area and threaded a daisy-cutter low past Quim to make it 2-0.

Benfica should have pulled a goal back straight away as Rodriguez shot from close in and the ball looped to Edcarlos who incredibly hit the bar from one metre out when it seemed easier to score.

Out of the blue Benfica pulled a goal back through Mantorras, who won the ball in midfield and tried his luck from 25 metres out. The shot was struck well but Ustari will feel he should have done better as the ball whistled past him into the net.

Casquero then came close to restoring Getafe’s two-goal advantage with a deft lob that dropped just past the post with Quim beaten. It was the nearest either team came to scoring again and Benfica have it all to do in the second leg in Madrid next Wednesday.

Benfica:
Quim, Nelson, Luisao (Zoro, 29), Edcarlos, Leo, Katsouranis, Rui Costa, Cristian Rodriguez, Di Maria (Mantorras, 61), Sepsi, Cardozo
Red Card: Cardozo (9)

Getafe:
Ustari, Contra, Belenguer, Cata Diaz, Licht, Casquero, Pablo Hernandez, De la Red (Celestini, 72), Granero (Mario Cotelo, 46), Albin, Braulio (Manu, 60)
Yellow Cards: Braulio, Granero, Licht, Casquero, Pablo Hernandez

Goals:
[0-1] De La Red, 25
[0-2] Hernandez, 67
[1-2] Mantorras, 76