This Sunday, Benfica defeated its eternal rivals, Sporting de Portugal, in the Lisbon derby, with a comeback that came only in the final minutes of the match and lifted the Portuguese champions to the top of the table, although has the same points as its capital opponent.
The many of João Neves and Casper Tengstedt After 90 minutes, they secured the emphatic victory of the ‘eagles’ in a clash in Lisbon where the ‘lions’ ended up with one less player on the field afterwards. the expulsion of Gonçalo Inácio at the beginning of the second part.
The teams faced the derby in completely opposite situations: Sporting as the leader and with only one defeat (against the Italian Atalanta in the Europa League) since the beginning of the season, and Benfica with the shadow of its terrible performance in Champions League.
Despite this weight on his shoulders, the Portuguese champion started in charge and came close to scoring on several occasions, most notably when Rafa Silva sends the ball over the crossbar from the goal of Madrid Antonio Adam and with a chipped shot from João Mário, who barely scored against the club where he trained.
Sporting opens the scoring
After a somewhat hesitant start, the ‘lions got into the game and just missed the goal thanks to the reflexes of Ukrainian goalkeeper Trubin, which stopped the attempt of Diomande and Pote.
But seconds before the break, Sporting broke the tie with a goal from Swede Viktor Gyökereswho received a pass from Englishman Marcus Edwards and shot into the right corner of the ‘eagles’ goal.
Roja to Gonçalo Inácio
The euphoria of the goal did not last long, because the second half did not start in the best way for the green and white team, which was left with a number less after the expulsion of Gonçalo Inácio, who saw his second yellow.
Playing against ten, Benfica took a long time to create situations that could have led to a draw, which they came close to achieving in the 77th minute with a shot by Ángel Di María that brought out a great save from Adán, his former Real Madrid teammate.
Joao Neves equalized in the 93rd minute
however, Two minutes before the final whistle, João Neves equalized for Benfica.
Following a corner – where even Trubin joined the attack – the ball landed at the feet of the young Portuguese midfielder, who fired powerfully from the center of the area to make the score 1-1.
Ecstasy in the 97th minute thanks to VAR
But the game wasn’t over and, as the final whistle approached, Benfica did 2-1 by Danish striker Casper Tengstedt.
The goal was immediately disallowed for offside but, after a long and nervous waitthe VAR finally gave the go-ahead on the matter which proved Benfica’s success.
The victory in the derby eliminates the crisis scenario and pushes the ‘eagles’ to the leadership of the Portuguese League, with 28 points, the same as Sporting. Porto, third, follows them with 25.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
