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| Friday, 02 March 2012 22:28 |
Benfica 2-3 FC PortoMomentum shifts north after unforgettable Clássico Three weeks ago, Benfica were five points clear at the top of the Liga ZON Sagres table. Now, after a pulsating Clássico at the Estadio da Luz, the Eagles are three points back from bitter rivals FC Porto, who produced a performance to delight their travelling support in Lisbon tonight. Goals from Hulk, substitute James Rodriguez and a controversial winner from Maicon were enough to cancel out a brace from Cardozo, as Benfica, irresistible for much of the campaign, suffered their third loss in four matches.
As anticipated, Jorge Jesus opted for the midfield pairing of fit-again Javi Garcia and Axel Witsel, with an attacking quartet of Nico Gaitan, Pablo Aimar, Nolito and Oscar Cardozo. Rodrigo, who has yet to regain his sharpness since limping off against Zenit St. Petersburg, started on the bench for the Eagles.  Vitor Pereira travelled south without Mangala, Danilo and Varela, whilst James Rodriguez only joined the Porto party eight hours before kick-off, having made the intercontinental trip from Miami. Given the Colombian’s excursions, Djalma’s presence in the Porto starting eleven came as no surprise. Also unsurprising was the skittish, error-strewn opening. A crackling atmosphere at the Estadio da Luz provided the soundtrack as both teams strained themselves into settling – which of course delayed the process. However, the encounter was sparked into life after seven minutes, when Porto took the lead. Hulk, restored to his preferred position on the right of the front three, received the ball in space, cut inside, and unleashed a bomba of the highest order, which left Artur with no chance. The Porto captain produces his fair share of miscued efforts on goal, but this particular 108 km/h rocket looked in from the moment it left his boot.  Having stunned their opponents, Porto swaggered through the subsequent minutes. The midfield trio of Fernando, Moutinho and Lucho pressed superbly, as did Maicon and Alvaro Pereira. This left Benfica outnumbered in central areas, and as a result the Eagles struggled to work the ball out wide with their usual fluency, occupied as they were by a host of incisive passes from Moutinho and co. - many of which almost found their mark. However, discipline was not a characteristic shared by the entire Porto side, and a succession of foolish fouls from Rolando, Alvaro and Djalma (all three of which led to cautions from Pedro Proenca) afforded Benfica a foothold back into the half. Cardozo and Pablo Aimar failed to capitalise on their set-piece chances, but the easing of the pressure allowed the home side to enjoy some time on the ball, and begin to carve out openings of their own. The best of these came on 23 minutes: a lofted ball over the top from Gaitan found Cardozo, but the Paraguayan could only stab a tame attempt into Helton’s mid-section. Otamendi and Rolando were assiduous in their efforts to force the Benfica number seven wide wherever possible, and their smothering defensive work led to a rapid Porto counter-attack with ten minutes remaining in the half, which saw the Dragons almost double their lead. However, a pair of last-ditch saves from Artur denied first Janko and then Alvaro; and Moutinho’s free kick dipped a half-second too late, shaving the top of the crossbar instead of dropping in.  Galvanised by these near misses, Benfica surged forward once again, and three minutes before the interval, got their reward. Porto only half-cleared a corner, and Maxi fired a low howitzer back into the box. The ball cannoned off Witsel, then Janko, and finally fell to Cardozo, who lashed a thunderous strike beyond Helton to level the scores. As has been their way so often under Jorge Jesus, the opening goal left Benfica smelling blood, and the Eagles came out for the second half intent on seizing the lead. Three minutes after the restart, they did just that. Aimar delivered a pinpoint free kick, and Cardozo, criminally unmarked by the Porto defence, was able to nod home into the right-hand corner. For a time, it appeared as if Porto were going to crumble under Benfica’s relentless raids forward. Yet the back line, marshalled by the outstanding Maicon, held firm, and after 64 minutes, Porto silenced the raucous Luz.  It started with a Benfica counter-attack, orchestrated by Nolito and Witsel. The Belgian looked well place to play a telling through ball, but he dallied, and Maicon was able to produce a last-ditch block. This set the substitute James Rodriguez streaking up the field, flanked by Fernando, with whom the Colombian played a swift one-two before beating Artur with an emphatic finish to level the game once more. He would have been forgiven for feeling somewhat jetlagged, but it was James who precipitated yet another momentum shift in a game chock-full of them. Having been pegged back, Benfica struggled to regroup, and when Emerson was awarded a second yellow card (the first having come for kicking the ball away in disgust) for a soft but ill-advised foul on Hulk, the rising tension around the Luz became all-too-perceptible; and began to filter down onto the pitch.  Tension leads to fouls, fouls lead to set-pieces, and with the stakes as high as they were during the closing stages of this particular match, goals often follow. So it was at the Luz tonight. James whipped a free kick from the right wing directly at Artur, and the Benfica goalkeeper, so solid throughout the season, made a hash of his attempt to punch, and Maicon capped a memorable night by flicking a header into the empty net. Replays showed that the centre back had been offside when the cross was delivered, and Benfica will no doubt bemoan the absence of a flag. Yet there was a noticeable bloody-mindedness about Porto throughout the 90 minutes – on this occasion, the Dragons were not to be denied. Dead and buried less than a month ago, they now find themselves in the driving seat for the 2011/12 title. Benfica: Artur; Maxi Pereira, Luisao, Garay (Miguel Vitor 71’), Emerson: Javi Garcia (Nelson Oliveira 88’), Witsel; Nolito, Aimar (Rodrigo 51’), Gaitan; Cardozo. Porto: Helton; Maicon, Rolando (James Rodriguez 58’), Otamendi, Alvaro Pereira; Fernando, Lucho, Moutinho (Kleber 85’); Hulk (Sapunaru 90’), Janko, Djalma. Goals [0-1] Hulk 7’ [1-1] Cardozo 42’ [2-1] Cardozo 48’ [2-2] James Rodriguez 64’ [2-3] Maicon 87’ Ben Shave |
All kudos to Porto who played a wonder match. VP surprised me with tactics and subs and subs that were very important to the outcome.
But somehow this isn't enough for some Tripeiros or other Benfica haters.
It's pathetic and sad how some have to continually inflame the situation and bait people into retaliating.
What ever happened to "we're in first", "we've come back and rescued a season"? You won!!!!
Even though the 3rd goal was clearly offsides you still chirp and try to justify. Why? You won. Benfiquistas can scream all they want, but all you have to do is point to the league table.
Maybe I've been wrong, and only 12 year olds are on this site. Sorry Tom.
Let me ask some of you this, if I told you at the beginning of te season that Porto wasn't going to advance past the CL's Group Stage, get knocked out of Europa right away, and was out of the Taca, everyone would ave called me crazy and a all sorts of other things.
Well that's exactly where you stand now. Kudos to you for leading the league with nine left to go. I didn't realize that the league gave out some kind of trophy for this accomplishment.
Benfica have been in a slump the last few weeks no doubt about it, but we still have not been rolled over by anyone this season, and all 4 of our defeats were by the odd goal and could easily have ended in draws (or even victories with a little more luck). Can the same be said of Porto? They were thumped by Man City (forget possesion statistics, it's goals that matter in the end), and comfortably beaten by Zenit, Gil Vicente and Coimbra in the cup, and I repeat failed to beat the best of Cyprus home or away. Are they really better than us because the referee failed to spot (surprise surprise!!!) a blatant offside in the 87th minute?
Many of the posters are stating that the Liga isn't over yet and there's still a lot of matches to play. I agree on one hand, but I think realistically it is more likely that Porto will keep getting more breaks and keep guaranteeing 3 points against the likes of Pacos Ferreira and Nacional etc etc. I always thought that we had to be ahead of them (or at least level) after this Classico was played, for us to really be the favourites for the title. There's still a chance, but it's difficult to see Porto dropping more points than us from now to the end.
Lastly, I will say this for PDC and the Porto hierachy...Juventus got away with what they did for years, but they were eventually caught. And I think the same will happen eventually here. If this is just a conspiracy, then why is it that everyone who really know about Portuguese football, who isn't a Porto fan, knows all about what PDC represents? You should hear what my grandmother for example, who couldn't care less for football, had to say about PDC! That scandal of match fixing from the time when Mourinho was coach, just faded away didn't it? Nobody ever heard about it again...serious payments were made without doubt. But it's ok, in my mind at least Benfica is still the best and most entertaining team in Portugal this season. An offside goal may well have wrecked our title dream, even though there's still much to play for and it ain't over yet...but in the meantime O Benfica continua a ser o Benfica...O Glorioso! Nothing will ever change that, period!!!
Get a life!
PDC was caught on tape talking to refs but NOT bribing them! Take your own advice and check youtube!
Porto played better and deserved the win.
Benfica's most important player is Gaitan who is NOT playing well. I think he may have an undisclosed injury.
With Gaitan in poor form Benfica are not a great team.
One defeat in Russia, and the team has seemed to fall apart in responce, nullifying all that hard work they did over 3 or 4 months to get into the position we were in. True champions always shake off setback results and don't let it destroy their focus, and it's so disappointing to see our boys crumble like this. Look of course it's not over yet, it's only 3 points and there's still 9 matches to play. But the initiave is now with Porto psychologically, no doubt about it, and as recent history has shown, all Porto needs is to get ahead and they end up winning the title. We still have a chance but they are in the driving seat now, we have to accept it and hope they falter in some games....a big deja-vu feeling haha!!
In regards to the game, I think a draw was a fairer result. Porto's powerful players bullied the midfield as they did in all the classicos last season. But we were doing fine with the 4-2-3-1 system, like i thought we would. And at 2-1, I thought we were more likely to get the next goal. Then JJ gets over-confident again and thinks reverting to 4-4-2 is the best decision to make...takes off Aimar for Rodrigo, and all of a sudden we have only 2 in the middle again....what happens next? You guessed it. Porto take over the midfield and score 2 goals to win the match. JJ has made serious blunders over the last 4 matches, there is no question. I still won't agree with Orlando's harsh criticism of JJ, but i do think he has to accept much of the blame for this slump we've gotten into so quickly!
I have been saying it all season, our defence hasn't been nearly good enough and i always thought that unless it seriously improved, we would end up in trouble eventually. We concede in almost every match this season, simple as that, and I knew we could't keep hoping to out-score the opposition every single time. A team that aims to win titles has to be able to keep clean sheets, that is just a fact! From the very beginning I was saying JJ was making the wrong call with both Emerson and Artur. Emerson has been our weakest link all season, everybody agrees with this (Capdevila is a world cup winner who has done it all, for crying out loud!!!). I don't want to be hard on Artur because he has made some fantastic saves this season...but the fact remains he concedes in most matches...I thought he should've done a lot better for all 3 of Porto's goals last night. And I still believe that Eduardo would've provided us with more clean sheets this season if he had been made number 1 by JJ.
Anyway the match against Zenit is our last chance now, i feel, to get our confidence back and hopefully get back on track and turn this slump around. I still believe we will beat Zenit and qualify. Let's face it, we ain't gonna win the Champions League this season (not with this defence!!!)..but reaching the quarters or maybe even the semis with a bit of luck in the draw, would at least salvage some pride if, as I expect, we don't end up winning the Liga title that we all know we should have! Querido Benfica: we'll always follow you through thick and through thin, you know it...but boy do you make it hard for us a lot of the time! Mas Forca Sempre!!!
You know what if Portugal get eliminated in the Euros off a offside goal or a controversial penalty I would like to see the same Portista's come back and complain and comment and see Bryan complain about there is no Benfica players for a Seleccao LOL!
There's no excuse for the linesmen to not be lined up properly on that play. if it was from open play people might be more forgiving, but that was just amateur hour.
1 - Red card on Emerson (the first yellow being undeserved)
2 - Offside call by Porto
To flaunt a victory without as much as deserving a draw is embarrassing. Portista's should go home and be humble they walked away with 3 points, rather than brag like irresponsible children.
The guys are going to have to compose themselves quickly. We have to advance in the CL.
Bragas current run is also problematic. I fully expect them yo come even this weekend.
I know there's always the irrational bunch, but for the most part Benfiquistas have been congratulatory.
its funny how its mostly non Benfiquistas that have spwed hate.
Talk about sour grapes. The winning goal may have been slightly offside but to headline it is just pathetic.
The next time I'm in Portugal I'm going to wipe my backside with a copy of that paper.
The front page of Record, now that's more like it.
The midfield battle was quite impressive with both teams fighting for control of the game. Both Moutinho and Witsel showcased their very impressive defensive sides to the game. Aimar was good on the ball, but unlike Lucho who pressed Garcia quite well, Aimar gave Fernando the freedom to break up Benfica attacks and spread the ball across the field.
Fernando was the man of the match as he again proved that he is one of the worlds finest defensive midfielders. I have no idea why Brazil continue to ignore such a fantastic player.
For all my fellow Benfiquistas out there, this season is far from over. There are still 9 games left in the season including Braga and Maritimo at home and Sporting away. Porto have to play Braga and Maritimo away and Sporting at home. These are HUGE games for both Porto and Benfica and let's not forget that Braga are still very much in the running for the title. These next 9 games will be incredible!
May the best team (Benfica) win!!!!
Injuries dictated the substitutions for Benfica and the Porto pressure that opened the game dictated everything for the first 15 minutes. I for one will not make excuses for Benfica or Emerson. Witsel picked a hell of a time to have a bad game. I thought Javi did an excellent job of neutralizing Lucho. Janko looks like a cowardly poacher. His fouling tactics, theatrics, and lowballing were shameful, as were the Porto post game celebrations. Injuries dictated the substitutions for Benfica, and that pretty much dictated the game. Emerson is not a CL or Benfica caliper player, leave it at that. All season long, until about a month ago, Benfica were able to impose their will, even in close games. Today they could not. It will likely cost them the Liga. JJ loses all credibility if Emerson sees the field on a regular basis after this...
It really was a classic game, one of the best Benfica-Porto games I've watched in recent years, a very even game by the best teams in Portugal, either could have won, as they say it was a game of marginal differences.
Such as Benfica's profligacy in the first half when they should have scored more than one, Enerson getting sent off changed the game, but also James superb counter-attacking goal (what a sub!) and also Hulk's incredible strike (who by the way did nothing else all game). I thought Fernando was very good and better than Javi, both goalkeepers impressed. I agree that Maicon looked better in centre defence, astute sub by Vítor Pereira who really changed the game with substitutions.
Rodrigo's coming on for Aimar was forced and he did not look fit, I which Jesus had brought in Bruno César or Oliveira, JJ was not happy with his subs.
However, I think Benfica for two thirds of the game were slightly better than Porto, just after Hulk's goal and until James equaliser (from 10 to 67, that's 57 minutes), after Aimar left Benfica lost more and more control of the game.
I disagree with all the Enerson bashing because after the first goal he marked Hulk out of the game, but the red card did not cover him in glory.
Best players for Benfica in my opinion: Artur, Luisão & Garay, Nolito, Aimar & Cardozo.
Witsel and Gaitan were poor, Maxi as always great at attacking not so good defending.
Nine games is a long time, three games ago Benfica were five points clear, so there's a lot to play for still.
Finally a quick word for Braga who quietly has been on an impressive run of results, may join Benfica in second and effectively the title race. What a championship this is turning out to be.
You know I was doubtful when the league got reduced to 16 teams but it has become really competitive do we really want to go back to 18?
Benfica are having their best season in many years, in CL quarter finals, playing some great football along the way. Meanwhile Porto have been playing poorly this season with a clueless manager, losing to APOEL (to the delight of many Benfiquistas), dumped out of Europe early on, talks of a crisis...
...and we still beat them at their own place, and now 3 points ahead of them. Just fantastic.
Liga Zon Sagres is a JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So many ups and downs in his one.
I was really surprised at how flustered Benfica looked with the high pressure from Porto. They've done that consistently now, so it was hard to take. All credit to Hulks cracking shot/goal. It caught everyone by surprise.
I was really happy to see Benfica compose themselves and take over the match. They really should have finished better on their opportunities. Cardozo and Aimar have to both two of those away. Let me add that Helton really came through for Porto.
People will get on Emerson, but although the get the second yellow, the first one should have never been give. If that's the case Alvaro should have gotten a red for his slide tackle from behind, of you follow the rules by the letter of the law.
A lot of flopping and rolling around by both teams, especially when they got the lead. Lucho gets caught under Javi and grabs his face. Why? Replays clearly show he wasn't touched in the face. It went both ways. Maxi screamed at James due to him rolling around and obviously gettin up no problem when whistle sounded. Frustration definitely play a part.
I don't know how we can blame JJ for this one. The lineup was as most asked. The only problem for me is Aimar coming off unless he had an injury. Aimar is going to miss the CL match anyway, so let him play. We'll see if he took a knock.
Nico has been off. I know that someone here made a Luis reference from last year, and I'm hoping not. Once the window closes he has to waits until summer. He has to start producing or he'll be back next year.
Once again, all congrats to Porto. A tough and deserved win.
Yes he was offsides on the goal. I still find it amazing that side judges still don't line up correctly. Why wasn't he even with the back line. Maicon was a full body offsides.
The league title is not lost yet. There's games left to play. For me the big match is vs Zenit. Very important that we win and advance. Hopefully this one didn't cripple us for it.
ONCE AGAIN THE LUZ IS IN THE DARKNESS AND THE DRAGON IS ON FIRE!!! VIVA O PORTO!!!!