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| Tuesday, 06 March 2012 21:46 |
Benfica 2-0 Zenit (4-3 aggregate)Eagles into Champions League last eight A pair of injury-time goals in either half from Maxi Pereira and Nelson Oliveira gave Benfica a 2-0 win over a poor Zenit St. Petersburg at the Estadio da Luz tonight; sealing their Champions League quarter-final place 4-3 on aggregate. Despite spurning a number of opportunities, the Eagles were rarely troubled by their opponents, and were good value for a first win in four matches.
Jorge Jesus made three changes from Friday’s loss against Porto: one voluntary, two enforced. Nolito dropped to the bench with the more physically dynamic Bruno Cesar lining up out wide, whilst Garay and Aimar (unavailable due to injury and suspension respectively) were replaced by Jardel and Rodrigo.  After placing himself at the heart of the action with a crunching challenge on Rodrigo during the first leg, Bruno Alves started as a spectator on the Zenit bench at the Luz. Luciano Spalletti welcomed back two key players in Malafeev and Criscito, with Alexander Kerzhakov a lone striker for the Russian side. Kerzhakov cut a lonely figure during the first half. Right away, Zenit dropped deep, ceding possession in favour of massing the space in and around the final third of their end with defensive personnel. Benfica won their first corner of the match within three minutes, but from the get-go the game closely resembled a domestic encounter for the Eagles. In the absence of Aimar, much of the creative burden fell onto the shoulders of Axel Witsel, and the Belgian, aided and abetted by Bruno Cesar, was at the heart of Benfica’s most incisive play during the opening stages. The latter produced the first real effort on goal with fourteen minutes, but his shot was denied its usual venom by a deflection, and Malafeev was able to claw the ball away without too much trouble.  Zenit offered little in the way of attacking threat, with their first shot coming from a free kick conceded by Rodrigo. Moments before that Bruno Cesar had been bundled over by Semak on the edge of the box, though referee Howard Webb waved play on. This introduced the other main motif of the half – the growing ire of both the home team and support with Webb and his colleagues. When Benfica were able to work the ball into wide areas, they looked dangerous. Maxi flashed a low ball across the penalty box; whilst Javi Garcia was unable to convert a training ground free kick delivered by Bruno Cesar from the penalty spot. Yet as the half went on their incisive play petered out, and a fluffed clearance from Artur almost gifted Zenit the lead – thankfully for the goalkeeper, Shirokov’s effort was poorly struck.  Just as Jorge Jesus would have been preparing a rollicking for his side, they took the lead. Witsel and Bruno Cesar were at the heart of the move, carving Zenit’s backpedalling defence with a swift exchange of passes that set the former free inside the area. Malafeev was able to charge down his initial shot, but could do nothing to prevent the cool-headed Belgian from backheeling the rebound into the path of Maxi, who arrived late to sweep home from close range. The previously tense Luz roared its approval, and they were almost sent into delirium moments before the interval. Gaitan produced an uncharacteristically strong tackle to rob Anyukov, and lofted a cross into the box in search of Cardozo. The Paraguayan got to the ball ahead of Malafeev, but his header was directed wide and Rodrigo arrived a second too late to divert it goalwards. Thus it was that Zenit were the team to begin the second half having received a proverbial rocket from their coach. Spalletti’s men upped the tempo a little during the opening ten minutes, but remained noticeably devoid of any cutting edge, despite the introduction of Danko Lazovic.  For Benfica, the opening fifteen minutes of the half yielded more of the same. Having put themselves in control of the tie, the Eagles retained the initiative, but a free header for Jardel and a blocked shot for Cardozo aside, the home side appeared content to preserve their narrow advantage – a dangerous game, though admittedly made less so by Zenit’s continuing lack of quality up front.A second goal for Benfica would have put the tie to bed, and with a shade over 20 minutes remaining, Cardozo squandered a wonderful opportunity to do just that. A botched clearance from Zyryanov sent an innocuous pass through on the Zenit goal, and having shrugged off his marker, Cardozo failed to find the target, poking wide of the left-hand post. Five minutes later, Benfica’s number seven again found himself with enough time and space to test Malafeev, after Bruno Cesar found him with a precise pullback. This time the Zenit goalkeeper was forced into a save, but Cardozo’s right-footed shot was always headed straight at his palms. In a tense, scrappy finale, Bruno Alves managed to momentarily silence the whistles and jeers that accompanied his every move following his introduction with a daisy-cutter from distance, but Artur gathered easily.  Another substitute, Nelson Oliveira, provided a rather more memorable contribution in the depths of injury time. The youngster, who had found his range with a pair of pot shots, produced a lung-bursting effort to meet a through ball from the tireless Bruno Cesar, and showed impressive composure in gently lifting a shot over Malafeev – the perfect way to seal a first Champions League quarter-final for Benfica since 2005/06. Benfica: Artur; Maxi Pereira, Luisao, Jardel, Emerson; Javi Garcia, Witsel; Bruno Cesar, Rodrigo (Nolito 61’), Gaitan (Matic 71’); Cardozo (Nelson Oliveira 79’). Zenit: Malafeev; Anyukov (Alves 52’), Lombaerts, Hubočan, Criscito; Shirokov, Zyryanov (Fayzulin 70’), Semak, Denisov, Bystrov (Lazovic 45’); Kerzhakov. Goals [1-0] Maxi 45’ [2-0] Nelson Oliveira 90’ Ben Shave |
Also, in response to (Forcaslb29). My parents immigrated to Canada when I was young for greater . They go back all the time and so do I. Calling me a traitor is just rediculous!
Let me add that I don't diminish your passion for the Seleccao. I just happen to like futebol and 12, soon to be 8 or 10, games isn't enough. To be honest it wouldn't bother me a bit if Real was your favorite squad.
I happen to root for Benfica. They are my love and passion. I also follow Man United and La Viola.
I will always support the Seleccao.
But if you want Portuguese players to be developed you better hope that the Big 3 bring in the money. It's their money tha supports the league, foreigners or not.
Secondly, please anyone...tell me one portuguese player that has been loyal to one of our "big three". Im a Benfica fan so ill rip my own Benfica players. Oh our beloved Rui Costa. Well, Rui Costa left, had the chance to come back while at Milan, but still wanted a few more years there. But he came back when he was 34/35! What a hero. R.Rocha, Miguel, Simao, M.Fernandes, Tiago, Nelson etc etc...all portuguese not one stood up and said, I love my club and will finish my career here. but we complain we have no portuguese players on Benfica. Anyone here think N Oliveira wont bolt if Barca, Real or Man U came calling hahah!
Chalana, Nene, stayed with Benfica when they could have left. Even Joao Pinto, Real Madrid was sniffing around and he said no, but were suppose to be loyal to portuguese players these days that dont care?
Regardless, Benfica and club should always before country. For me, its what I remember as a child, listening to the radio with my dad, asking him what was going cause they were talking to fast....and then gooolllooooooo......BENFICCAAAA...priceless. NOthing the selecao can do will ever beat that.
Anyway sorry to go off there, Ill be awaiting responses regarding loyal portuguese players these days... i cant wait to hear this!
Also let me clarify that I don't care if people like the club teams. But don't put that ahead of the seleccao and don't boo Portuguese nationals. That's disgraceful and impractical too. Moutinho switched to Porto and was called a traitor and worse. So what, he became a better player for the national team.
And as for (Forcaslb29) who seems to think he knows me. I was born in Portugal and I speak the language fluently. I'm Portuguese. A true Portuguese person! That's why I prefer to cheer for other Portuguese nationals over some over-paid, hiredhands from the four corners of the earth who for a million more would gladly bolt for one of the other big three in a second!!!!
It goes to show just how big Benfica is. They have fans throughout the whole world, Portuguese or otherwise.
An incredible accomplishment for a club from such a small country.
Benfica is by far the biggest club in Portugal, and being that I understand that they are also the most hated. The same thing goes for Juve in Italy, and Man United in England.
Just to light a fire to the Seleccao fans, I just watched the Benfica win over Zenit for the third time. I absolutely loved the way Oliveira looked, but he had a totally open Nolito running on goal, knowing he was there, but chose to shoot instead. Absolutely wrong decision. If the score was 1-1 at the time, I wonder if he would have gotten a pass at such a mistake?
I think the one funny thing about people from this site is everyone whines about the lack of portuguese players on our club teams, and moans that Benfica should be stocking the national team (dont get me wrong id love to see Benfica winning with all portuguese players and the national team with all Benfica players...but its not going to heppen). The thing thats funny is that most people on this site werent born in portugal...you were born in the states, canada or live there now. For me, Im Benfica first by a millions miles, Canadian second and Portuguese third. I assume like most, we have nothing to cheer for in the Canadian national team, so the automatic thing is to cheer for Portugal, but dont tell me that Benfica is a south american team when your really Canadian betraying your country and routing for portugal. Rui who the hell are you to rip Benfica about portuguese players when your living in Canada routing for portugal...and that goes for everyone here...hypocrits! everyone here..hypocrits
Rui, you are confusing civic/national pride with futebol. I am a very proud Portuguese, and have never hidden that fact.
But sports is just that, sports. When you start blurring the lines between sport and politics/nationalities it's when trouble truly begins. Just go ask the Togo team if the shooting was justified in any way. Crazier yet they were all suspended for not going forward in the tourney.
I am a Benfica fan. Was born one and will die as one.
As all Portuguese, I also root very hard for the Seleccao.
To be honest, I don't really care if you root against Benfica and root for Real. Club futebol and Int'l squads are two completely different animals.
I may despise Sporting, but I still want them to win in Europe. Yesterday's win was fantastic.
As for Sporting having great young prospects, where are they? Even the -20 squad didn't have many Sporting players.
Rui, you and Bryan should become fans of Bilbao. They are truly a segergrated team.
Even though I don't like this trend, I think the Seleccao is benefiting from players playing over seas. Ask yourself, How long was CR7 at SCP before going to ManU? Would he be the player he is today without ManU and the Premiership?
I agree with the Paolo Jorge comments. He is playing outstanding football but the fact is that he and Viana will not be the deciding factors of how well we do in the Euros.
How come he didn't go after or say the same thing after the fans at the Dragao went off on Danny. He kept his big mouth shut then.
He just isn't that good. Maybe he was at one time, but on his current teams most important game ever, he's on the bench.
He's playing in the Russian league for the money. I don't blame him for it, I would be doing the same thing if that was my only option. If he was quality he should have been in Spain, England, etc...
what about the golden generation of the early 90s which benfica contributed to hugely! while sporting had their stars like Balakov, Yordanov, Juskowiak, Valckx!
blaming Benfica's lack of portuguese players in the last few years for portugal's "decades of underachieving" is a fairly empty argument
Sadly for Paulo Jorge and for the Seleccao, Paulo Bento continues to ignore the most in form Portuguese defender in Europe. He is far superior to the likes of Ricardo Costa and Rolando, and I'd even say that he is much better than Bruno Alves, who isn't even a starter for Zenit. I hope and pray that Paulo Bento is paying attention to Jorge's exploits. Any coach with half a brain would realize this guys talent.
If Bento leaves Paulo Jorge and Hugo Viana out of the final euro 2012 squad, we will be in big trouble.
Hilarious comment. Who the hell does he think he is? So he expects to receive a warm welcome from the Luz? With his history at Porto, he will never get love from Benfica especially as the opposition. Get real and get yourself tissue.
Also i love all those haters from last season saying Benfica is a disgrace to the country for not making it past the group now everyone praising Benfica lol shut their mouths right up
Nelson Oliveira is playing in a more competitive envoronment then Neymar. Given that the Portuguese league is the what? 5 or 6th best league in Europe. In addition to this, the kid is 20 years old and already has a champions league match. Futhermore, if you think about it, just because some player like Neymar has a bunch of moves doesn't make him any superior to a kid like Nelson who doesn't do stepovers and all that lameshit. Ronaldo is more flashy than Messi? But does that make him better? No because Messi has won more titles. The bottomline, is this, Nelson Oliveira is one of the top strikers of his age and he proved it during the U-20 World Cup.
Andre, you make a great point. I don't see how rival fans can root against Benfica or any other Portuguese team had they been in the same situation. I will obviously root for them to the very end. But those who hate because it's Benfica and they hate them are nuts. It is the Champion's League. Benfica is a REPRESENTATIVE of Portugal in this and the only one remaining. Everyone should be pushing for this group to go all the way.
Though I am not a fan of Porto, Sporting, Braga, or any other team in the liga, I will root for them all in a tournament such as Champions or Europa. Best of luck to Sporting in their match.
Benfica played a great first half. Every attack I was going crazy lol. Love my Aguias! 2nd looked shaky but on defense everyone seemed really on point. Great tackles and clearing the ball. Though Oliveira's shot was weak...it was luck to have hit the Zenit player and go in..a goal is a goal right?
FORCA BENFICA till the end my friends! The next round shall be even mor exciting! SLB GLORIOSO!
On Nelson, he ia a player that Portugal needs given the limited player number of young players in Portugal who show any promise. For the record most of his goals in the u-20 WC were penality kicks. He has shown good pace and size for a striker but from the U-20 WC and my early observations he is quite wasteful. Seems to lack good decision making and final touch seems to be lacking. He is not very accurate with his shooting to get balls on target.He is young but how long can we continue to use that as a reason. A player needs to deliver and show qulaity (look at Neymar) . His goal hit the opponent yesterday. I don't want to rain on the new wonder child but the jury is out on this player. There are some signs that are of concern. Lets hope he gets the confidence and develops. We need this type of player.
Another thing I loved about last night, to all these people such as Bryan etc etc...all going on about Benfica not having any Portuguese players, being a South American team etc etc...well who comes on and scores the clinching goal last night to make sure that Portuguese futebol remains represented in the CL this season? Nuff said...
It really is disappointing to see all this division amongst Portuguese football fans...people hate their rival club so much that they will suppourt their opponents in Europe, they will route for a team from Russia or England over Benfica, Porto or whoever. That really is rediculous I have to say! I am a Benfiquista, but I expressed my sympathy on this site when Porto went out to Zenit and then again to Man City a few weeks back, and likewise I will thouroghly route for Sporting tomorrow against the same opponents. What these people forget is that when Portuguese clubs lose in Europe, our coefficient suffers, and next thing these same people will be complaining if we lost a CL place. What goes around comes around!!!
Back to this, probably the best player on this team and steal of the summer was Arthur. This guy is worldclass (at least from what I see). I think he had improved benfica more than anyone. I'm a big hater of the benfica back 4 and have been for years however with Arthur in net he kind of makes me forget about those 4 guys.
Let's see what Benfica get in the next round. If they play with the same heart and determination they had against ManU they can beat anyone.
Yes Oliveiras goal bounced under the sliding defenders leg and popped up. Frankly I don't care. It went in.
Something did irk me, and I admit it's petty since we won. Bruno Alves had to open his big trap once again after the match. This guy is impossible to root for.
I understand he's a former Porto player that loves his club. Before both matches he inflamed the fans with his anti Benfica comments. I get it, it's ok. But after he gets whistled and booed in our stadium he has to come out and say how he expected a better reception in his homeland. Really?
I wish someone would have asked him where was he with the same comments when Danny was booed at the Dragao?
Let's face it, if this guy was the "world class" player some people think he is, he would be playing somewhere in Europe besides Russia. He didn't even start Zenits most important match to date. Please he is way Overhyped.
Anyway about Nelson's goal, it was definitely lucky as Mateus said. The ball deflected off the Zenit defender.
Forca Benfica
Forca Portugal
Forca Futebol
Does the next round go to a draw for the match ups?
Otherwise, Oliviera's shot would have been saved easily, as it was relatively tame and lacking any sort of pace or power.
He's lucky he got the goal. I'm getting increasingly more tired with people over-hyping this kid like he's the next messiah. Sure, he scored a few goals at the U-20 World Cup, but I'm quite sure 3/4 of them were from the penalty spot, if not all of them.
Otherwise, congratulations to Benfica. It will be nice to cheer for a Portuguese club in the quarter finals of the Champions League!
Our team is blessed with a player like Luisao.. another exceptional performance defensively. Nelson Oliveira continues to impress. The team is reenergized and we will continue to fight for the league and CL titles.
Well done to Zenit too, they are a good team and i was impressed with their teamwork and energy. They played a good second half but really couldn't create any real opportunities. But a good team for sure and a rising force in the european game.
Great relief when Nelson scored the clincher right at the death, Benfica needed that after the couple of weeks we've had. That goal will do great for Nelson's confidence and was a superb finish. What as assist for the goal also by Bruno Cesar who had an excellent match, he really produces in big games and I've been impressed with him all season.
Now on to the quarters, a good achievement so far, it could get even better, it'll depend who we get in the draw. Could be real tough or much less tough, we'll have to see. Benfica at their best can be a match for anyone, but they have to keep their focus and just take it match by match...Forca SLB
Perfect fit for NT too.
Cesar, Maxi, and especially Witsel were brilliant. In the second half, Benfica decided to soak up the pressure and counter attack. Zenit never really looked like threatening since they lacked quality in the final third.
Cardozo really should have put us 2-0, but he missed a great opportunity. Both he and Rodrigo were not at their best, but Benfica was still the better team. Gaitan, who did work hard, was largely anonymous in this match. Bruno Cesar, in my opinion, was excellent at cutting in to link up with Witsel and provide space for Maxi.
In the end I was glad to see Nelson come on and score a goal. He looked nervous at first as he chose to shoot rather than pass to an open Nolito. However, he did show his quality as he made a brilliant run off the ball to finish a nice Cesar assist.
Hopefully this game will get us out of this slump where in. The quarter finals were a realistic goal, but depending on who we face, we could even make the semis. I wouldn't want to face Madrid, Barca, Bayern, or Milan, but I think that we'd have at least a 50-50 chance with every other team in the round of 16.
FORCA BENFICA!!!!!