English:
Benfica Struggles to Secure Home Victory Against Depleted Santa Clara
Lisbon, Portugal – In a match marked by a disparity in possession and Santa Clara playing with a man down, Benfica managed a hard-fought victory at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica. Despite dominating the ball with 78% possession and generating 19 shots, 7 of which were on target, Benfica faced resistance from Santa Clara who, although with only 22% possession and 9 shots (5 on target), remained competitive.
The match took a dramatic turn in the 38th minute when Paulo Victor of Santa Clara received a red card, leaving his team with ten men. Benfica capitalized on their numerical advantage in the second half, with V. Pavlidis opening the scoring in the 59th minute. However, the yellow card received by G. Prestianni in the 58th minute, shows that the match was not easy for the locals.
Just when everything seemed to indicate a comfortable victory for Benfica, Vinicius Lopes surprised the home side’s defense in the 90th minute with a goal that set the final score. Santa Clara, despite their numerical disadvantage, demonstrated grit and effectiveness by converting one of their last opportunities. The match was also interrupted by multiple cards, with Gabriel Silva of Santa Clara receiving a yellow card in the 21st minute. Benfica added three points, but it was clear that it was not an easy victory against a brave Santa Clara.
Substitutions benfica: at minute 46 T. Araujo came in and G. Prestianni went out., at minute 72 R. Rios came in and L. Barreiro went out., at minute 72 F. Ivanovic came in and H. Araujo went out., at minute 72 A. Schjelderup came in and G. Sudakov went out.
Substitutions santa clara: at minute 61 Gabriel Silva came in and Diogo Calila went out., at minute 61 Brenner came in and Vinicius Lopes went out., at minute 81 Matheus Pereira came in and A. Carter went out., at minute 81 Serginho came in and Luquinhas went out., at minute 81 Adriano Firmino came in and P. Ferreira went out.
The teams lined up as follows:
Benfica
Titulares:
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