Benfica came from behind to beat Arouca thanks to a goal in the last minute of stoppage time by Franjo Ivanovic.
The hosts got off to the perfect start when they were awarded a penalty from their first attack, António Silva handling Barbero’s header. The Spanish striker confidently fired in the penalty.
Benfica reacted well to the setback and put Arouca under intense pressure, winning a series of corners, one of which resulted in a golden chance for Alexander Bah but the defender headed wide.
Arouca almost doubled their lead when Barbero headed wide from close range after a well-worked counter-attack.
The home team went close again at the start of the second half, Hynju’s shot kept out of the net by a last-ditch interception by Tomás Araújo.
Ríos equaliser
In an open game Benfica’s Dodi Lukebakio was denied by a brilliant save by Arruabarrena, but from the resulting corner the visitors equalised. Richard Ríos profited from slack marking by Arouca to head into the net without even having to jump.
Benfica surged forward in search of the go-ahead goal, Pavlidis and Schjelderup going close but the chances dried up for the Eagles.
Arouca were a whisker away from retaking the lead in the 84th minute with Dylan Nandín could not direct his header on target when he looked certain to score.
Benfica threw everything at Arouca in the final minutes, substitutes Gianluca Prestianni and Georgiy Sudakov close to scoring.
Just when it seemed José Mourinho’s team would have to settle for a draw, another substitute, Ivanovic, got on the end of a Prestianni cross and expertly executed a right-foot volley to give the three points to Benfica.
