The poetry of an epic comeback!

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

What memorable moments there were in the Cathedral of Benfica's dreams! A triple outburst of joy in stoppage time was the loudest, giving fair expression to the triumph (2-1) in the derby this Sunday, November 12, at Estádio da Luz, in the 11th matchday of the Liga Betclic. Benfica are back at the top of the table, where they left off on May 27, when they won the 38th league title!

Anyone who looked at Roger Schmidt's line-up on paper would have thought that the Eagles would line up in a 3x4x3 formation, with Musa the only new addition to the starting line-up compared to the last official match in Spain against Real Sociedad. It was a mistake, as Morato came on as a left-back, João Neves and Florentino in central midfield and João Mário on the left of the attack, in a 4x2x3x1 formation.

The match was hotly contested in the first few minutes, with the first shot coming from Hjulmand in the 8th minute. Benfica came close to opening the scoring in the next minute. Inside the box, Musa won the ball from the opposing defenders, and it fell to Rafa, who, squeezed by an opponent, shot with his right foot, sending the ball past the right post.

Benfica, better in the match and putting more pressure on the ball carrier, ran into misfortune again after 12 minutes. Rafa, on the edge of the area, dropped to his left and fired a powerful shot into the corner of Adán's goal. The ball still took a deflection off a Sporting defender (Diomande) before hitting the junction between the bar and the post and going out over the end line.

Benfica's superiority in the game could have materialized into a goal in the 24th minute, following a set piece. António Silva, in the area, assisted João Mário, who, on the right, passed the ball to the far post, over Adán. Florentino, by millimeters, couldn't deflect it into the back of the net, just as it was about to cross the goal line. What a chance!

In the 30th minute, it was Trubin's turn to shine with a save from Diomande's header, following a corner from Pedro Gonçalves. In the 33rd minute, the Ukrainian international made another fine save.

In the 40th minute, Benfica hit the post again. António Silva launched Di María at speed down the right, the Argentinian international approached the area and fired his shot into the left-hand post.

However, in the last play of the first half, in the 45th minute, Marcus Edwards, on a counter-attack, ran in and pass the ball to Gyökeres, who, in his stride, shot high and wide (0-1). Trubin touched the ball on the stretch.

The history of the derby saw an important episode in the 51st minute when Gonçalo Inácio fouled Rafa in a play led by Di María, leading referee Artur Soares Dias to inevitably show the center-back his second yellow card, and consequent red.l. 

Another of the great moments of the derby, marked once again by some misfortune, came in the 77th minute when Di María, with a shot from distance, saw the ball hit the bar after Adán had deflected it with his fingertips.

Benfica pushed forward in territorial terms and, in the fourth minute of the six-minute stoppage time, equalized (1-1). It was the first explosion at Estádio da Luz! With Trubin in the Sporting penalty box, Di María took the corner kick on the right, Morato deflected the ball at the far post, and it reached João Neves, who, close to the penalty spot, unleashed a powerful shot with the ball crashing violently into Adán's goal! 

In the 90'+7', Rafa launched Di María down the right side of the attack, the latter received it and headed down the middle, dragging two opposing defenders with him. Aursnes received the ball and crossed low into the penalty box. Rafa couldn't finish with his back heel, but Tengstedt was at his back and he didn't miss! Estádio da Luz erupted again, but the assistant referee's flag went up, and it was up to the VAR to rule on any irregular position of the Reds' forwards...

Rafa (four centimetres) and Tengstedt (41 centimetres) were behind the visitors' penultimate defender, St Juste, and validated the comeback (2-1), leaving the overwhelming majority of the 62,166 fans ecstatic before the ball went into the middle and the game ended.

With this win, in which João Neves scored his first goal of the 2023/24 season - he had scored his first goal for Benfica's first team precisely in the Alvalade derby, in the last season, on matchday 33 of the National Championship –, the eagles climbed to 1st place in the competition with 28 points.