Benfica 0 - Shakhtar 1

They came , They saw, They conquered. What more can be said about this Ukranian team that despite coming from pot 4, now leads group D with 2 wins in as many matches? While they still have to play the strongest team of the group, they see themselves very much in the driver seat with 6 points after beating 2 teams that were favorites to go into the next round.
In the press conference that anticipated match day 2, Luisao told reporters that a tie would not be a good result, then what happened last night must leave the Benfica players scratching their head and wondering where do they go from here. Benfica started with a similar team to how they played over the weekend against Sporting, with the exception of Cardozo, who started in Nuno Gome's place. It wasn't a notable performance from the Paraguay international but he showed some improvement, maybe due to the rest Camacho has given him. He fought constantly with the opposition defenders and won numerous balls in the air.. A goal would have certainly have turned an average performance into a stellar performance. the defense was shaky at times, fruit of the great game both Fernandinho and Ilsinho had, both of the Shakhtar player often found space behind the defense to create opportunities. In the box however, Luisao and Edcarlos did their best to keep the danger away. The Shakhtar goal originated from a foul on Nelson, who was up on a counter, Fernandinho fouled Nelson and stole the ball and came down the wing and found Jadson in the penalty spot area with the simplest of tasks, The Shakhtar player did not waste the opportunity and scored Shakhtar's first goal at a time when Benfica was dominating the game, In the midfield, Maxi had his worst games wearing a red shirt, often lost. Rui Costa, in a less inspired night, tried and tried but nothing seemed to be going well. Di Maria has often plays of genius but is lacking one thing.. the deadly last touch, whether it's a pass to a teammate or a well placed shot past the keeper.. He still hit the crossbar on a genius run down the left but didn't do much else to change the result.. Cristian Rodriguez is slowly proving to be Benfica's best acquisition this season, fought throughout the game but could never really make a dent in the scoreboard.. Nuno Gomes came in right before the half to substitute an injured Nelson, an injury that resulted from the foul that created the Shakhtar goal. He never really created anything for Benfica, and while one would guess that him and Cardozo up front would yield good results, such wasn't the case. Binya came in for DI Maria, in a substitution i didn't understand at first, but the Cameroonian proved to be on of Benfica's best players of the second half holding the midfield in a time the midfield was in shambles. Shakhtar came to Lisboa and played a very strong organized game, the win is well deserved and the score could have even been more lopsided in their favor. 40 million in players for this season is definitely paying off as they are tops on both domestically and in the Champions League. As for Benfica, it's time to shake off this shake off some of the pressure they are currently under.. Domestically they have to get on a winning streak and in the Champions League, nothing is lost.