O Benfica intervened between Sporting and FC Porto on the I Liga podium, this Thursday, at the beat Nacional (0-2)upon returning to Choupana, two and a half months after the day on which the famous fog ‘forced’ the interruption and postponement of the eighth round match. This time, the fog disappeared and Ángel Di Maria… smiled.
Resuming in the eighth minute, the match was marked by a ‘two-faced’ eagle in terms of finishing, and, in the first half, all attempts ‘ran into’ a ‘wall’ with the name of Lucas França. At that time, the ‘fall’ of the fog came to threaten…but only until halftime.
It was therefore necessary to wait for the second part (read ‘escape’ from the fog), for ineffectiveness to give way to effectiveness. There it was Ángel Di María who put on a ‘show’, once again, guiding Bruno Lage’s team to return to winning ways.
The Argentine star opened the asset on conversion of a penalty (58′) and, in the last few minutes, he took advantage of the entry of the recently entered Amdouni to sentence the doubts (74′)with another eagle encore on his chest.
With the much-desired (and postponed) adjustment to the calendar, Benfica reaches second place in the championship and now has 35 points, one behind champion Sporting and one more in comparison to FC Porto, while Nacional remains above the line water, with 12 points.
So let’s look at the match notes:
Figure
Angel Di Maria He went back to ‘doing his thing’ and became the main protagonist of Benfica’s return to triumphs. After three consecutive games without ‘winning’, the Argentine striker didn’t exactly have a luxurious first half, but he was lethal enough in the second half, with two (decisive) goals from two shots. Another glorious performance for the 36-year-old winger.
Surprise
Lucas France he avoided greater harm for his team, especially with the three saves he made in the first half, ‘pushing’ the game into halftime with a zero on the scoreboard. The fact that he did not prevent Di María’s two goals – the first from a penalty and the second from a rebound in the middle – does not erase the performance that ‘filled’ the measurements of the Madeiran goal… to a certain extent.
Disillusionment
Ulisses Wilson He didn’t have a disastrous performance, but he ended up being involved in the play that unlocked the scoreless score. The Brazilian defender committed a penalty by touching the ball with his arm and, from then on, he became somewhat disoriented on the field, something that was noticeable due to the passivity shown in the eagles’ second goal.
Coaches
Tiago Margarido was ‘forced’ to make a change in relation to the eleven presented two and a half months ago, with Dudu’s entry into the vacancy left by Nigel Thomas, having found it difficult to position his team to create danger. Proof of this is that Trubin only needed to make one save in the second half, even after several substitutions.
Bruno Lage he repeated the ‘formula’ with which he had entered Choupana the last time and it took him a while to see his team translate the danger into goals. Strategic when it comes to changing the team, the Eagles’ coach hit the nail on the head when he bet on Amdouni, who only needed two minutes on the field to make an impact, followed by more changes with the game already resolved.
Arbitrator
Gustavo Correia It was a late afternoon without much fanfare. Confident when it came to whistle the fouls and pull the cards out of his pocket, the 32-year-old AF Porto referee did not hesitate to award – correctly – a penalty in favor of Benfica.
Read Also: Di María ‘blows’ fog and Benfica already ‘smells’ Sporting’s heels
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