LISBON, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Benfica clutched a precious 2-1 win against Estoril at Estoril Praia's stadium on Sunday, in the vicinity of Portugal's capital Lison.
Benfica head coach Jorge Jesus made some changes since the last defeat against PSG for the UEFA Champions League group stage. Enzo Perez and Matic paired on the center of the midfield and Markovic started on the right wing.
Benfica scored early in the game. Gaitan served Lima with a geometric cross and the Brazilian only had to score. The powerful start from the Eagles contrasted with the pale image they gave the rest of the match. After the goal, Benfica seemed accommodated and Estoril was the only team searching for the goal.
The team from Estoril, near Cascais, a town very close to Lisbon justified the nickname of one of the sensations of last season in the Portuguese league, when they reached the Europa League for the first time in their history.
The second half was the same: a poor match where the supremacy of Estoril was not materialized in goals. And the team who doesn't score ends up suffering. Right after Filipe Goncalves got expelled, came the only moment of real beauty in the match which had three persons involved: Ola John, Maxi and Cardozo. The striker scored an amazing goal.
But right after that Estoril diminished. After a corner kick, Balboa, a former Benfica player, with a great header gave some hope to Estoril. And Maxi Pereira's red card intensified that situation.
Until the end of the match, Estoril was always nearby the goal but could never equalize. Benfica returned to the victories and it's now in the third place, five points behind the leader FC do Porto.
Benfica will travel to Cinfaes to play for the Portuguese Cup on Oct. 20.
Man of the match: Cardozo. The best foreign scorer of Benfica's history didn't let anybody down and gave Benfica the three points.
Moment of the match: The second goal from Benfica. Great work by Ola John who served Maxi Pereira. The right back crossed to Cardozo who scored a beautiful goal with his right foot, without letting the ball hit the ground.