Benfica still advance despite loss
Vorskla Poltava 2-1 Benfica (aggregate: 2-5)
 Benfica went down to defeat to Ukrainian side Vorskla Poltava 2-1 in the second leg of their playoff tie in the Europa League, but the Portuguese outfit still advance on a 5-2 aggregate.
Sachko opened the scoring for Vorskla in the second half, but Javier Saviola managed to put Benfica level. Esin earned the victory late in the second frame with another goal, to give Vorskla a consolation win.
Knowing that they had a comfortable four-goal advantage heading into the match, Jorge Jesus opted to make some changes to the line-up, which included leaving Pablo Aimar back in Lisbon.
Some might argue that the Jesus experiment didn’t work as the Portuguese tactician allowed Cesar Peixoto, Luis Filipe, Moreira and Keirrison all to start. Having the lofty lead that Benfica did, the Benfica boss took the opportunity to view the rest of his squad in a competitive match.
Benfica coach gracious
Jesus was humble in defeat and attributed the victory all to Vorskla. The 55-year-old felt that the Ukrainians were the better side in the second half and deserved the win.
“We knew, despite the changes we made, that we ran the risk of losing the match, but not the tie. The reason for the result was because Poltava were better than us in the second half.”
Guests off to good start
The visiting Portuguese team controlled the tempo of the match right from the opening whistle and the team’s starlet, Fabio Coentrao, was at the heart of most of Benfica’s attacks with his dribbling and crosses.
The pacey winger took a corner kick in the 20th minute, which Cesar Peixoto met and back-heeled the ball to Keirrison. The Brazilian got hold of the ball and forced Dolgansky to make a fine save.
Benfica’s captain Nuno Gomes thought he had put the Portuguese side up in the 32nd minute, but his header ended up on the wrong side of the post. Cesar Peixoto almost fooled the Ukrainian goalkeeper in the 37th minute, but his chip effort just missed the net.
Vorskla rebound
The second half was very much to the hosts’ liking as the Ukrainians grabbed the lead soon after the re-start when Moreira poorly judged a Kulakov cross, allowing Sackho all the time in the world to knock the ball into the open net.
Ramires could have had the goal of the competition in the 59th minute when the Brazilian danced past several Vorskla players, but failed to command his control at the last second. No matter as Benfica pulled even two minutes later when second-half substitute Javier Saviola showed a lovely piece of skill. The striker controlled the ball with both feet, never allowing it to hit the ground, and slotted it past Dolgansky.
Vorskla jumped to the lead again in the 74th minute when Kulakov’s pass made it through Luis Filipe and Luisao, all the way to Esin and the striker had no problem beating Moreria.
Benfica will now join Nacional and Sporting in the competition proper and will wait for the draw to see who they will face in the group stages.
Vorskla Poltava:
Dolgansky, Yarmash (Bezus, 46), Dalku, Medvediev, Curri, Krasnoporov, Despotvski, Kulakov, Markoski (Chesnakov, 90), Esin, Sachko (Chychykov, 72)
Yellow Cards: Yarmash, Besus
Benfica:
Moreira, Luis Filipe, Luisao, Sidnei, David Luiz, Javi Garcia, Ramires (Amorim, 71), Coentrao (Di Maria, 63), Cesar Peixoto, Nuno Gomes, Keirrison
Yellow Cards: Nuno Gomes (Saviola, 46), Javi Garcia
Goals:
[1-0] Sachko, 48
[1-1] Saviola, 60
[2-1] Esin, 74
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