Benfica fell flat to a defeat at the hands of Porto and missed out on the chance to beat their rivals to a title.On Wednesday night, Jorge Jesus’ men lacked any real bite at the Estádio Do Dragão and never really looked like they deserved to win.
The game started out pretty intense from both sides as two of Portugal’s most successful sides battled it out for silverware.
Both sides had chances of their own to score but the complexion of the game changed when Porto won a penalty after a counter-attack that could easily be blamed on poor positioning from the Benfica defence.
Sergio Oliveira stepped up to score the resulting penalty to put Porto in the lead after quarter of an hour played. The first half ended with Porto 1-0 up going into the break.
The second half resumed with much less intensity and was quite slower compared to the first half. Benfica did have a few chances to grab the equalizer but Porto goalkeeper Marchesin proved equal to the task with a string of saves to go with.
The best chance for Benfica in the game came when Grimaldo almost scored an amazing free-kick that hit the bar and just inches away from creeping into the net. That would have been a much needed equalizer had it gone in.
Asides Serefovic who came on for Silva in the 64th minute, Jorge Jesus’ unwillingness to make substitutions raised further eyebrows as the veteran manager waited until the 88th minute to bring in Goncalves, Pedrinho and Tavares.
Porto put the game beyond doubt when Luis doubled their lead in the 90th minute to seal the victory.
It was a missed opportunity for Jorge Jesus to win a title for Benfica following his return to the club in July.
