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Braga win the midfield battle. |
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Saturday, 18 August 2012 23:47 |
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Jose Peseiro clearly wanted to control the midfield, which was quite easy since JJ was using a very offensive 4-4-2. Braga was essentially playing with 4 central midfielders with Amorim tucking in from the left wing. Salvio and Cesar didn't defend well, thus allowing Braga to dominate the midfield with more players.
The first half was pretty even with Braga dictating the tempo without really having much of a cutting edge in the final third. Benfica seemed to rely too much on counter attacks, but with both Viana and Custodio protecting the back four, it was hard to create clear cut chances.
In the second half, Benfica really pushed forward for an opening goal leaving their defense susceptible to Braga's swift counter attack. Both of Benfica's goals were really unfortunate(I feel bad for Melgarejo) but in the end, a draw was the fair result.
The ball did seem to strike Custodio's arm when heading towards the goal, so the penalty wasn't a poor decision. I just don't understand why Douglao was sent off. It was either a horrible mistake by the referee or Douglao may have said something to warrant his second yellow. Considering the quality of the officiating in Portugal, it was probably the former...
In the end, both teams had bad luck: Melgarejo's bizarre own goal & pass to Alan, and Douglao's red card. I'm a Benfiquista so I'm disappointed with the result, but in all honesty, neither team was clearly better than the other. Therefore, a draw seems like the fair result.
I was never a huge fan of Jorge Jesus and his almost naive attacking philosophy, so I'm obviously not pleased to see him stick to the same formation/choice of players. The offensive 4-4-2 may work against the likes of Vitoria Setubal at home, but it can be really dangerous against quality opposition with a strong midfield.
Melgarejo will get much of the blame, but I'd definitely blame JJ for his stubbornness. Benfica should always employ a flexible 4-2-3-1 against every team they face. The 4-4-2 is an endangered species these days. Hopefully JJ will realize this.
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