Benfica 2 - Leiria 2 - Bad, Very Bad.

The "home ghost" continues to haunt Benfica, this time it was a tie against last place Leiria. A game that Benfica had the obligation to win. With Leiria being the worst team in the league and going through a complicated financial situation, supporters anticipated an easy game that would help the team carry momentum into the second leg of the Uefa Cup against Getafe, but it wasn't to be.


Starting 11:
Quim
Luis Felipe, Zoro, Edcarlos and Leo
Binya
DiMaria, Rui Costa, Rodriguez
Nuno Gomes, Cardozo

Nuno Gomes returned to action since his last game on February 2nd, Zoro and Edcarlos partnered in the center of the defense, Luis Felipe filled in for the suspended Nelson on the right side of the defense.

I could very easily copy/paste some of my other game reviews to illustrate this game, and it would probably all be spot on. Slow start, shaky defense, allowing the first goal, nothing new for Benfica fans.
In the center of the defense Edcarlos continues to be an absolute nullity, with his bad positioning and frequent mistakes, he was at least part of 2 dangerous situations in the first half, and was also connected to Leiria's goals among other Leiria chances, Edcarlos was constantly caught in no man's land while the Leiria man streaked behind him.
Benfica once again gave the first 25 minutes away and really didn't start playing until the last period of the first half, coincidentally when Leiria scored their first goal(42m). The defense-midfield-attack linking barely existed, and when it did, it was done slowly, when Benfica would apply pace into their transition and flank play they would bring danger to the Leiria goal. Just one play comes to mind from the first half, a Rodriguez shot that met the crossbar, clearly Benfica's best opportunity of the half.

In the second half, Benfica came out strong and with a different attitude and would complete the scoreboard turn around needing only 11 minutes of the second half. The 1-1 came from a Zoro header, who got the second ball on a Nuno Gomes goal attempt. The 2-1 came from an Oscar Cardozo pinpoint free kick.
Benfica would make things right for the moment, but their letting off led to Leiria's improvement and subsequent threats, always in the form of a counter. It was from a counter that Leiria equalized in the 70th minute, a ball played behind a lost Edcarlos in which neither Quim nor Zoro could stop N'gal who made full use of his speed to bring disappointment to the 29,000 at hand. Camacho subbed in Sepsi for the injured Zoro, yes another injured center back, in the 72nd minute and he subbed in Mantorras and Assis in the 79th minute for DiMaria and Nuno Gomes, substitutions that in my opinion should have been made earlier. Once again Benfica's lack of concentration and pace in the final third ended up not yielding the winning goal.

Individually

Quim - 6
Luis Felipe - 6
Zoro - 7
Edcarlos - 4
Leo - 7
Binya -7
Rui Costa - 7
DiMaria - 5
Rodriguez - 7
Nuno Gomes - 6
Cardozo - 7

Sepsi - 6
Mantorras - 6
Assis - 6

MOM - no one really stuck out.

Shortly after the game camacho announced his resignation, stating that he motivate the team.

Bad win for Benfica, who despite missing key players, should have easily beaten last place Leiria. With Camacho's exit and the Getafe game this week, let's home the team does not go into a tail spin.



Highlights