Porto 1 - Benfica 1 - Highway Robbery

I'm still trying to decide what direction to take this review, whether i should fill this space ranting and raving about one of the biggest robberies of the season, or if i should just sweep it under the rug and file it as the repetitive refereeing incompetence, that week in, week out, insists on rearing its ugly head. Or if i should concentrate on the brilliant performance by our team.. Either way, I'm just going to let it flow out of my head.


Quique's chosen 11 wasn't right on what the media had been projecting. Moreira in goal, Maxi, Luisao,Sidnei and David Luiz in the defense. In the midfield, Katsouranis and yebda were in the middle, while Reyes and Amorim were on the flanks. Up front it was Aimar supporting the returning Suazo.

Benfica started their game composed, holding their lines, but allowing some space to the porto men, who threatened on a couple occasions. porto was the home team and they pushed hard from the start, but Benfica was able to withstand the pressure and started building some game flow of their own. I'd say that by the half hour mark, Benfica had completely shaken off porto's initial pressure and were now coming out and dominating. Katsouranis and Yebda tightened up and were now in control of the game. Aimar, who keeps on piling up better and better outings each time, proved to be a real headache as his mobility and his popping up at different places in the final third allowed Benfica to move forward into attack.
On the flanks, Reyes, seemed to be having a a less inspired game than usual, but still very influential in Benfica's offensive game. On the right side, Amorim was being his usual self, steady like a time piece, working in conjunction with Maxi to give Benfica's right side the solidness it needed.
Up front, Suazo seemed a little by himself and also seemed to show his lack of training throughout the week, but nevertheless a threat to the porto defense. The better playing by Benfica towards the end of the half, ended up paying off, as Reyes found Yebda on a corner and the Frenchmen headed the ball into the porto goal.
Perhaps a tie going into the locker room at the half, would be acceptable, but the goal rewarded Benfica's control at the end of the half, and it was a matter of effectiveness, porto had a few chances but didn't capitalize, Benfica did.

porto came out strong in the second half again, but once again were met by a solid Benfica, who didn't limit themselves to defend, but were also attacking. At the 62nd minute mark, Quique made his first substitution, taking out Suazo and putting in DiMaria, a move reminiscent of last Wednesday's game. I still don't understand the reasoning behind not playing with a center forward, but with porto trying to push forward and come out of the defense, it made some sense for Benfica to keep two fast men on the wings to counter, but still an odd move, if you ask me. Both teams traded attacks but you got the feeling that despite the all out attempts by porto, Benfica was defending well and not being subject to any type of "suffocation" by porto.
Then came the 72nd minute, a minute that changed the story of the game. Lisandro tries to get past yebda in the corner of the area, Yebda puts out his leg but pulls it out, lisandro, untouched by Yebda, Lisandro pulled a Louganis and the referee, 10 yards from the play, points to the spot. Replay after replay show the simulation by lisandro and the error by the referee, how the referee didn't see it, when he was that close is beyond me. porto would equalize on the ensuing pk, and the game was never the same after that.
Benfica continued to defend well, and holding their lines. While porto seemed to be out of steam and ideas, as they kept hitting Benfica's well organized defense. Nuno Gomes(86') and Martins(93') rounded up the remainder of Quique's substitutions, but could not bring anything new to the team.

In my opinion, Benfica comes out of this game as the team who lost the most with the result. You might look at it and think it could have been a lot worst and we could have now been at 4 points from the leader. But when you lose in such a way(with the referee's help) i think the result ends up being very heavy for what Benfica did throughout the game.
I'll admit that porto was a superior team in the first 25-30 mins of the first half, but after that Benfica showed to be capable enough to stop and win the game. Even in the beginning of the second half, when porto came out once again pressuring, Benfica was able to respond well and even had a couple of chances themselves.
With Suazo being out, and with the way porto tied, you can say that some of the wind got taken out of Benfica's sails. Let's not forget that 10 out of the 11 players players Benfica fielded played mid-week, while none of porto's players(with the exception of Mariano, who came off the bench)played mid-week. That is something that needs to be noted.

Lastly on the referee, Pedro Proenca is a known card carrying Benfiquista, and has a track record of being prejudicial to Benfica. Some say his acts are biased on the fact that he does not want any suspicions raised upon him, being that he is a Benfiquista, so he has been accused of deliberately favoring Benfica opponents.
It makes some sense, but wether that is true or not, i'd like to see if the league intervenes and punishes Lisandro for his simulation. As you may recall, Luisao picked up 2 games following an elbow to the face of Sapunaru, an act the referee did not see, but that was quickly picked up by the league. What will the league do now? Probably nothing. The refereeing has been atrocious all this season, and Proenca will most likely sit out a couple of game, and that will be it.

I think Benfica should suspend Proencas membership, at least while he is a referee.

Lastly, I have to acknowledge here the brave and excellent performance by our players, who handled themselves like a true sacred mantle wearer would.
If we can play like this all the time the league will not escape us this year.

Next is a trap game against Pacos de Ferreira, followed by a trip to the stadium that resembles a bathroom. All games that we need to win.

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