Benfica beat Alverca on a rainy evening in Lisbon tonight to put pressure on top two Porto and Sporting, who meet at the Estádio do Dragão tomorrow.
The Eagles were on top for the vast majority of the 90 minutes, racking up a total of 29 shots (10 on target), compared to just 6 (2 on target) for the visitors.
On 16 minutes Rafa Silva fired in a fine shot with the outside of his foot that was saved by the diving Matheus Mendes, but the ball fell for Andreas Schjelderup for a tap-in to give the hosts the lead.
Alverca equalised in the 30th minute through a well-worked move, Marezi’s cross leaving Lucas Figueiredo with an easy finish from close range.
Pavlidis and Aursnes came close to quickly restoring Benfica’s lead but the visitors held on until the break.
Unsurprisingly, Benfica turned up the pressure in the second half, wave after wave of attack pouring towards the Alverca net.
Pavlidis thought he had equalised just after the hour mark but after a long VAR check the goal was ruled out for handball by the Greek striker.
The chances kept coming, Matheus Mendes saving brilliantly from Gianluca Prestianni twice in quick succession, but Alverca somehow held on and looked on course for an unlikely point.
But late substitute Anísio Cabral had other ideas. Portugal’s U17 World Cup winning hero had scored shortly after coming on a substitute on his debut in the 4-0 victory against Estrela da Amadora two weeks ago.
Tonight, the teenager repeated the trick, thumping in a terrific header from a wonderful Samuel Dahl cross 29 seconds after replacing Schjelderup.
The win moves Benfica to within two points of city rivals Sporting and six behind leaders Porto ahead of tomorrow’s Clássico.
“As we won, I’ll be watching Porto v Sporting with my mind at ease. If we hadn’t won, I don’t think I would have even watched the game,” said Mourinho.
Benfica 2-1 Alverca highlights
