Benfica triumphed against Estoril (3-0), in the 15th round of the Primeira Liga and offered a great gift to the fans, who they will spend Christmas at the top of the rankings. Pavlidis and Amdouni were the executioners on duty, facing a Line team that was too fragile to hurt the eagles.
Estoril started the match well, trying to show Luz that they weren't just going to defend. In the first minutes he tried to hide the ball from the Benfica fans and carried out this mission successfully. At least until the Eagles enter the game and take command of operations.
The Canarinhos chose to defend with a line of five defenders that did not allow large spaces at the back for the Reds, which made it more difficult to create danger while both teams were fresh.
Bruno Lage, on the other hand, maintained his usual tactic, based on a 4-2-3-1 formation and was forced into longer possessions to try to find the right timing to penetrate the opponent's defense, which was very solid and compact. When they succeeded, there was a lack of better definition to turn the play into a goal.
Interestingly, the first goal of the match came in one of Estoril's best moments. The first time the Canarians really lost their balance, in the 28th minute, Di María recovered the ball, handed it to Pavlidis and the Greek caught the ball on the edge of the area, before shooting well to open the scoring and return to goals, five games later.
With an advantage, Benfica gained confidence and started to create danger more frequently, while on the other side, their boldness was losing steam, which made the game a one-way affair.
Just like in the first half, Estoril started very well in the second half and could even have reached a draw. In a move in the Benfica area, full-back Fabrício appeared to be taken down by Tomás Araújo, but referee António Nobre went to VAR and reversed the decision believing that the contact was not enough for a foul. The warning was that the lead was too short for comfort.
Fatigue was felt as the minutes passed, especially in Estoril's attacks, which were fewer and more disorganized. Meanwhile, Bruno Lage's team was dominating possession of the ball, but without the desired practical effects, revealing many difficulties in creating real dangerous situations.
At 69, Pavlidis confirmed those who argue that he is going through a phase of lack of confidence, when a ball fell close to the small area where it would normally be a clear goal and he kicked it out after hitting the ball badly. In a second half with few opportunities, this could have been the one that reassured the team and the fans, who they were still worried about the ghosts of the game against AVS.
All uncertainty disappeared in the 73rd minutewhen Amdouni appeared in the right place to make it 2-0. In an insistent move, Akturkoglu allowed Joel Robles to save and a poor cut by an Estoril defender left the ball at the mercy of the Swiss, who didn't tremble and increased the advantage.
This was the final blow in this duel, because if Estoril were no longer able to create danger with the minimum disadvantage, from that moment on they disappeared from the game.
Until the end, there was still time for Bruno Lage to give minutes to Leandro Barreiro, Rollheiser, Schjelderup and Kaboré, and very close to the end, Amdouni went to the heights to head towards the Canarian goal, guaranteeing the double, in the 90+4 minute.
Like this, Benfica rises to the top of the Primeira Liga, for the first time in 2024/25, and the Benfica fans will sit at the table at Christmas as championship leaders, with one point more than rivals FC Porto and Sporting.
