Portuguese winger Rafa, with one goal and two assists, was the dominant figure on Friday in Benfica’s 3-0 victory over Famalicão that gave the Portuguese champions provisional leadership of the Primeira Liga.
In the 500th game of his career, 300 with Benfica, Rafa Silva He was the scorer of the ‘eagles’ second goal when Famalicão came close to equalizing and sealed the clash which ended in a massive result that did not reflect the struggles the Lisbon team went through to secure the three points.
Arthur Cabral made his debut as a scorer
Benfica took a while to warm up for their matchday 15 match and, despite the fluidity of their attack, they were initially unable to break down the Famalicão defence.
The Brazilian untied the knot half an hour into the game Arthur Cabral, who scored the first goal of the game and his first in the Primeira Liga.
It all started when João Neves He cleared a rival and passed deep to Rafa, who ran to the baseline and crossed for Cabral to finish in the area.
It could be a very important goal to lift the spirits of the former Fiorentina striker, who has yet to establish himself in his new team.
Goalkeepers stand out
After the break, the spotlight shifted to the goalkeepers of both teams.
The goalkeeper of the ‘eagles’, the Ukrainian Anatoly Trubin, made the difference with some dangerous play for Famalicão, while the Brazilian Luiz Junior He shined through stopping shots from Cabral and Turkish Kökçü and kept his team in the contest.
From a possible 1-1 to 2-0
The tie seemed closer than Benfica’s second and Lisbon’s players still suffered a tremor when A shot by Frenchman Zaydou Youssouf hit the post, but Rafa, in the 85th minute, erased any doubts to 2-0 with a powerful shot.
The winger was decisive again moments later, assisting the Croatian Petar Musa, who beat Luiz Júnior for the third and final goal of the night.
Di María and Otamendi, nothing
The absence of some starters, such as the Argentines Nicolás Otamendi, sanctioned, or Ángel Di María, who received leave extras, forced to call up some players from the reserve team, including Hugo Félix, but The debut of the brother of the Barcelona player João Félix is not today with Benfica’s first team.
Joao Mario saved Porto
The victory over Famalicão pushed the ‘eagles’ into the lead with 36 points, two more than Sporting de Portugal, who visit Portimonense this Saturday.
Meanwhile, Porto, third with the same points as Sporting, beat Chaves with a single goal from João Mario in the 60th minute.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
