Benfica Ties Sporting

Benfica tied Sporting at home and dropped another 2 points to Porto, the difference is now 8. I'm not going to do a detailed analysis of the game because many of you saw it. But i'd like to point out some positives and some negatives from the game. The starting 11 was just as i predicted in the post right below this one. Although the team was set up a little different from what i had anticipated.
Welcome back Nelson, for some reason i can't stand Luis Felipe, his insecure way of playing , his lackadaisical approach to the game, his slow reaction time and his lack of speed going forward for a modern wing back. While Nelson as often caused me to curse him in the past for his inconsistencies, he is a way better player than Luis Felipe, it was nice seeing him back, a good first half an average second half. Also good to see back on the team was Luisao. Luisao is still showing lack of competitive rhythm, yet, his sense of positioning and the respect he demands is something that makes an immediate impact on the team. Edcarlos once again showed he is a great player and at this point one has to wonder if David Luiz will be able to get his spot back, nonetheless it's good to have depth at that position that has affected Benfica for a while now. In midfield, i enjoyed seeing Katsouranis, who seems to be going to a great spell of form, next to him Maxi, who seems to be alot more productive in that area of the field, as he is a player that his very combatitive as well as a workhorse, for their first time together i think they formed a good tandem, something to watch in the upcoming games. Rui Costa played in his familiar role although with a lot more freedom this time because of 2 players with defensive characteristics behind him, however he was "gone" from the game for a good 15 minutes, just disappeared towards the end of the first half, a player of his influence can't have moments like that, and maybe it was good marking by Sporting. Apparently after half-time adjustments were made and in the second half we had the Rui Costa that we all know. Great shot from the outside of the box for an incomplete Stojkovic save that Nuno Gomes incredulously could not finish. On the flanks Rodrigues and Di Maria, it's very obvious that Rodrigues was a good acquisition and it's beyond me how PSG let him go, their loss. Very active, always fighting on both sides of the ball, good performance. Di Maria also played well, and one has to wonder if that's the position where Benfica can use him the most. Up Front the lonely Nuno Gomes who, as i already mentioned, had an incredible miss...he also had a header from a Rui Costa cross that went wide, Not much else to add, Benfica fans are beginning to grow tired of his ineffectiveness and his incredible misses, a player with his salary should be doing a whole lot more for the team. The Subs: Cardozo for Nuno Gomes, Cardozo brought very little to the Benfica offense, and i'm wondering why can't they play together? they played together against Naval and it was clearly Benfica's best game.. Freddy Adu for Di MAria, once again Adu started well and even suffered a clear penalty the referee did not see right at the end of the game, I hope we can see a lot more of Freddy. Nuno Assis for Rui Costa, this one too, brought nothing to the game.. I really don't know why the subs were done so late, i would have loved to have seen Freddy get a few more minutes.. we lost 2 points in the race for the league, the good side is that we didn't lose, and although we could have very easily won, we could have lost too. Benfica has an important game mid week for the champions league, a game we need to win, a win that would justify why we were in the second seed pot of the champions league draw...