Benfica made it five straight wins in all competitions after a comfortable 3-0 victory over Marítimo in Funchal.
The opening goal came in the 7th minute when Gianluca Prestianni’s shot was saved by Alfonso Pastor, the ball falling for Leandro Barreiro who slammed it past the goalkeeper.
João Palhinha went close before Alexander Bah went straight into the change rooms after a cheap shot from Paulo Henrique, the right-back replaced by Jakub Kamiński.
Vangelis Pavlidis’ deflected strike hit the post and Prestianni tested Pastor at his near post as Benfica went into the break well on top.
Marítimo made a positive start to the second half, Rafael Fernandes going close to converting Raphael Guzzo’s corner.
That was about as good as it got for the promoted club however, Pavlidis scoring from an offside position before turning provider in the 71st minute. He headed Andreas Schjelderup’s cross to the back post where Barreiro couldn’t miss.
Prestianni sealed the deal in the 82nd minute when he robbed Rodrigo Andrade inside Benfica’s half, raced clear and curled the ball into the bottom corner.
