It is the most glorifying match in Portuguese football as history, goals and players form the meaning of football. Portugal, the country that gave the world of football so much, pauses for Benfica and Porto.
Benfica started with Musa in the attack, meanwhile, Porto attacked with Pepe and Taremi.
Estaquio shot in the fifth from the distance, but this was far away from the target of Anatoliy Trubin.
Galeno tried with a shot from distance in the 15th minute, but his shot went wide. Wenderson Galeno, but his second shot is saved in the 19th. The tensions were raised in the 20th minute with Fabio Cardoso tackling David Nerez.
Cardoso was out with a red card and this was a harsh decision by the referee.
🚨| Fabio Cardoso (Porto) straight red card against Benfica
— Red Card Alert (@collinabanter) September 29, 2023
Another fact that VAR is useless pic.twitter.com/JMbTxhrgp3
The game changed in the first half
Ze Pedro replaced Romario Baro in the 22nd in a forced sub due to the red card. This was a highly important moment in the game. Taremi had a chance in the 28th, but the Iranian attacker was blocked by Trubin.
Antonio Silva had a shot in the 34th, from a cross from the free kick, but his attempt went wide. David Carmo and Mehdi Taremi got booked in the 36th and this meant a red light for Porto in the first half.
Pepe tried from the distance in the 40th minute but Trubin was there to save the ball with a fantastic intervention.
Sergio Concenciao was punished with a yellow card in the 44th for protests to the referee Joao Pinheiro. Six minutes were added on and Di Maria tried in a volley in the 47th, but his shot went wide.
Taremi was tackled by Neres and this was the last attack of Porto in the 48th minute. Musa reacted on the other end with a header in the 50th, but his header went wide.
The second half started with an attack from Musa in the 48th and gave signals that they wanted to win the game. Porto is a team of character and would not allow Benfica to attack them in the last third of the pitch even with ten players.
Benfica insisted on the left Kokcu and David Neres. Kokcu shot in the 54th and found the outside post of Costa. David Neres tried in the 57th, but somehow the ball was out of the target after a save by Diogo Costa.
Nicolas Otamendi tried with a shot in the 57th, but his shot did not find the target of Costa. Porto was in real difficulties within an hour of play.
Goncalves Neres received a yellow in the 59th and Porto had some moments of relief in the midfield.
Roger Schmidt replaced Petar Musa with Arthur Cabral to change the situation in the attack and make things more fluid in the attack.
And things changed for Benfica… Angel di Maria scored in the 68th after a pass from David Neres. The home side had the advantage they wanted in the first half. Di Maria received a yellow card for taking off his jersey.
⚽ 68' GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! DI MARÍA!!!!! #SLBFCP • 1-0 • #LigaPortugal | #EASPORTSFC pic.twitter.com/oq5OxRoacV
— SL Benfica (@SLBenfica) September 29, 2023
Otamendi had his moment again in the 73rd and in these minutes Benfica was the only attacking team on the field. Porto responded with a free kick from Estaquio, but his cross was not useful for his teammates.
Porto tried with a cross in the 81st, but Trubin is faster and has the advantage of the hands to control the ball over Taremi. Ze Pedro was booked with a yellow card in the 82nd. Carmo deflected a great ball crossed by Angel Di Maria in the 85th.
Schmidt replaced Di Maria and David Neres with Joao Mario and David Jurasek to give his team more speed and stamina in the wings in the last minutes of the game.
Benfica had possession of the ball in the last minutes of the match and was able to manage the advantage achieved in the 68th minute. Taremi had a last chance with a header, but his shot was saved easily by Trubin. Concenciao was booked for Porto as Otamendi and Jurasek were booked for Benfica in the 95th. The match was over and Benfica caught Porto in the first place and waits Sporting’s game.
