FC Famalicão 2-0 Benfica
Benfica have commenced their Primeira Liga campaign with a surprise 2-0 loss away to Famalicão, this Sunday evening, following goals from Sorriso and Youssouf Zaydou.
The Eagles were facing a mountain to climb after an early Famalicão finish from Sorriso placed the hosts ahead as early as the 12th minute.
A late second half goal from Zaydou condemned Benfica to a faltering start to the season with the second strike of the game turning up the pressure on the Lisbon giants coming into the season.
In the hot seat, Roger Schmidt caught some attention with the exclusion of David Neres, supposedly Napoli-bound, but there were starts for plenty of new faces such as Leandro Barreiro, Gianluca Prestianni, Jan-Niklas Beste and Vangelis Pavilidis.
But it was Famalicão’s winter signing, Sorriso, however, who instead drew the headlines onto himself after he was slipped through on goal by Óscar Aranda before slotting his finish past Anatoliy Trubin in the 12th minute.
The signs were worrying for Benfica who took as late as the 60th minute to truly scare Luíz Júnior between the sticks, with João Mário taking aim at goal from the edge of the box before the goalkeeper was able to tip the ex-Sporting man’s shot over the bar.
Angel Di Maria and Orkun Kökçü added to Benfica’s notable efforts, but Famalicão continued to look the likeliest to win the encounter, going close with a failed Zaydou chip before the inspired Aranda struck the post in the 84th minute.
The second goal eventually came as Benfica chased an equaliser, with Zaydou landing a killer blow on the Eagles in the 90th minute following a cute lay-off from Mário González.
At 2-0 down, Roger Schmidt’s side saw themselves kick the season off with a defeat for the second year running.
By Patrick Ribeiro
Famalicão XI: Luíz Júnior - Francisco Moura, Ermin Mihaj, Justin de Haas, Calegari - Mirko Topic, Gustavo Sá, Youssouf Zaydou - Sorriso, Oscar Aranda, Rochinha
Benfica XI: Anatoliy Trubin - Jan-Niklas Beste, Morato, Tiago Araujo, Alexander Bah - Florentino Luis, Leandro Barreiro - Fredrik Aursnes, Gianluca Prestianni, João Mário - Vangelis Pavilidis
