Naval 0 - Benfica 2 - Ugly but effective

Benfica defeated Naval, in another game where the result was really the most important thing. Playing without some of their key players, Benfica was able to come away with valuable 3 points to keep their distance between first place and also third place the same. The game also broke the negative streak that Benfica had against Naval, having never beaten Naval away for the Portuguese League in their previous meetings.

It wasn't the most attractive game, but an effective one for Benfica, nonetheless.

Camacho picked the following 11:

Quim in goal. Luis Felipe, Luisao, Katsouranis and Leo on the left. The returned Binya and Maxi were in front of the defense, while Assis and Rodriguez worked the flanks to help Cardozo and Makukula up front. A classic 4-4-2 if you will, but without a designated creative midfielder, as Camacho opted to leave Rui Costa on the bench ahead of this thursday's Uefa Cup match in Germany.
Also not being able to give their contribute to the team were Nuno Gomes, Petit, David Luiz and Nelson, all injured. DiMaria served a 1 game suspension for picking up his 5th yellow of the season.

With these many absences, the game took on a different importance, and with Rui Costa
watching from the bench, i was worried on how Benfica was going to find solutions to come away with the three points.

Not much to write about the first half, with the exception of Benfica's goal not much happened in the first half. Poor quality of play from both sides, with Benfica not being able to put together any type of game flow, much of it because of the lack of a player who assumes the reigns of the team. Benfica's goal comes from a Binya long throw. The Cameroonian international has become a threat with his very long throws into the box, and it wasn't the first time Benfica scored off one of his long throws. This time he found Cardozo who headed the ball back to Rodriguez, who took advantage of the keeper being out of the goal to put Benfica ahead, 19 minutes in. A very good start for Benfica, the goal took away some of the pressure Benfica had coming into the game and allowed the team to relax a little bit more. The rest of the half was marked by Benfica's insistence on the long ball looking for Cardozo and Makukula up front, without someone who could transition the game into the attack, the long ball was Benfica's favorite way to get into the attacking third, not the most effective way, as long balls are often 50/50 balls. It made more sense to manage the game by playing through short passes and controlling the tempo of the game, but without a "pivot" man in the midfield, Benfica resorted to the long ball, which was often easily defended by the Naval men and provided for a kind of amateurish level in play.

The second half didn't bring much change, with the best part of Benfica's game being their defensive game, with both Binya and Maxi putting in a great effort to "destroy" Naval's game. Camacho made his first substitution at the 72nd minute of the game, subbing Freddy Adu for Rodriguez, in an effort to refresh the position. Camacho used his second substitution to put Rui Costa into the game, in an effort to conserve possession of the ball and dictate tempo. With Rui Costa's entrance at the 85th minute, it was almost like a switch had been turned on, all of the sudden Benfica's game took on another quality, and it's almost surreal how in just one minute, Benfica's game can go from a complete uncoordinated 11 players just kicking the ball with no rhyme or reason, to playing that involves all of the team sectors in a coordinated orchestrated flow of play.
Freddy Adu had been the first to jump off the bench, but his minutes were cut short when he suffered a hit to his back that momentarily put him out of play. With Sepsi waiting to make his Benfica debut, Camacho changed his substitution choice, and chose Freddy to come out, Freddy seemed to be struggling on the sideline with his facial expressions mirroring the pain he was feeling. Sepsi came in the added time period, but still had time to assist Assis for Benfica's second goal. Rui Costa found Sepsi on a through ball, the Romanian took the ball to the end line where he back crossed to the penalty area, where Assis connected. Final whistle.

Individually

Quim - 6
Luis Felipe - 5
Luisao - 7
Katsouranis - 6
Binya - 7
Maxi - 6
Rodriguez - 7
Assis - 7
Makukula - 6
Cardozo - 6

Adu - 5
Rui Costa - 7
Sepsi - 6

An important win, taking into consideration the absence of key players such as Petit, Nelson and David Luiz. The win allows Benfica to carry momentum into the Uefa Cup, this Thursday, a game that is very important for Benfica.

Benfica's dependency on Rui Costa is alarming, to say the least, God forbid the Maestro suffers an injury that keeps him out of action. Finding a replacement will be hard, and if Benfica spent 9mm on Cardozo, they better get ready to spend more than that on a #10.

As of this morning(Monday)

Freddy Adu seems recuperated and trained with the rest of his team mates this morning. Petit and Nelson also trained with the rest of the squad, while David Luiz did gym work. Nuno Gomes did light jogging around the field.

highlights

Picture # Francisco Leong - getty