Sunday, November 12, turned out to be a real day of football confrontations.
The last match of the day in this category was the Lisbon derby between Benfica and Sporting.
In the first half, despite the guests' nominal status, Ruben Amorim's Lions had the advantage. And if in one dangerous moment Anatoly Trubin, who again entered the starting lineup of the “eagles,” coped with the blow, then in the second he was forced to capitulate.
Sporting forward Viktor Gyokeres scored a goal in the locker room – the 25-year-old Swede powerfully hit the near corner, leaving the Ukrainian goalkeeper out of action.
At the start of the second half, Roger Schmidt's team received a gift from the opponent, as visiting center back Gonçalo Inácio was sent off for the second yellow card.
But Benfica had serious problems creating chances: in all the time that the Eagles had, they made only two shots on target.
And yet the third hit was effective. In added time, after a corner kick, which Trubin ran to, the ball fell to Joao Neves, who was all alone and sent the ball into the visiting net.
And a few minutes later the home team were able to snatch victory. Fredrik Aursnes crossed to the goal line, Rafa Silva missed the ball between his legs, and Kasper Tengstedt heeled the ball into the goal.
At first, the touch referee canceled the goal due to offside, but after a check from VAR, the main referee pointed to the center of the field.
As a result, Benfica still put the pressure on Sporting in the majority, won the victory and became the leader of the Portuguese championship, beating the “Lions” only in additional indicators.
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Statistics of the match Benfica – Sporting 11th round of Primeira Liga
Benfica – Sporting 2:1
Goals : Neves 90+4, Tengstedt 90+8 – Gyokeres 45.
Expected Goals (xG): 1.55 – 0.78
Ball possession: 53% – 47%
Beats: 11 – 9
Shots on target: 4 – 3
Fouls: 9 – 12
Benfica : Trubin – A. Silva, Otamendi, Moratu – Neves, Florentino (Tengstedt 64), Mario (Guedes 87), Aursnes – Di Maria, Musa (Cabral 64), R. Silva.
Sporting : Adan – Diomande, Coates, Inacio – Esgayu, Hjulmand, Morita (Paulinho, 85), Reis (Santos, 73) – Edwards (Saint-Just, 57), Gyokeres, Goncalves (Trincao, 73).
Warnings : Mario, Neves – Coates, Inacio, Edwards, Hjulmand.
Sending off : Inacio, 51 (Sporting, second yellow card).
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