P Ferreira 1 - Benfica 3 - The Early Bird Gets the Worm

It wasn't going to be easy, but Benfica showed once again that this team is for real, by coming out of a traditionally difficult field with the 3 points.
After the slip up in Athens, the game against P.Ferreira was awaited with great anticipation, not only by the vultures that circled above, but above all, by Benfica fans, myself included, that wanted to see how the team was going to react.
Well, if it was a reaction that we wanted, then it was a reaction that we got, as Benfica only needed an impressive first half to secure the 3 points, throwing the remaining of the game into cruise control, and coasting to the win.


With Maxi, Aimar and DiMaria unavailable due to National team duty, JJ was forced to change the team, and fielded the following 11: Quim in goal, Amorim, Luisao, David Luiz and Shaffer in the back. Javi Garcia, Ramires, Coentrao and Martins in the midfield. Saviola and Cardozo were up front.

As usual Benfica started very strong, having had only 3 days of rest, it was imperative that the team come out strong, and put the game away early, and that was the message that JJ passed along to his pupils. After all, the team would have difficulty imposing the same pressure game throughout the 90 minutes, and as the time ticked down, the Mata Real pitch would shrink even more than its usual small size and make things even more difficult.
Early was the word, and early was when Benfica got on the scoreboard. Just inside the 3 minute mark, David Luiz re-directed a corner into the back of the net, a play reminiscent of what Katsouranis used to do so many times in past years.
It's not the first time David Luiz shows up at the first post, as a matter fact, his runs are all to the first post.
With an early goal, the game always opens up, and that plays into Benfica's favor. P Ferreira tried to answer but Benfica continued to dominate. Saviola and Carodo both shared chances, but it was Martins who was on target with a long range bomb that tailed away from the keeper.
22 minutes gone by, and all of the sudden you get the feeling that this might be another 4, 5 maybe 6 goal game, as Benfica showed themselves aggressive and dangerous.
The third goal came right before the half, as Cardozo executed a picture perfect free kick. Just within his range, Cardozo put it in the top shelf, with the ball still hitting the cross bar.
Benfica couldn't have asked for more going into the locker room, although 4-0 wouldn't be too far fetched either.

With a 3 goal advantage, and the with the fatigue meter filling up, Benfica decided to adopt a different type of game, a game that wasn't as dominating as the one from the first half but a game that allowed the team to be in control of the game.
Felipe Menezes came in for Martins(who had a very good half) at the half, and the team backed down on the pressure and opted to play a more contained possession game.
P.Ferreira on the other hand, were taking advantage of the low pressure to build their game but besides 2 or 3 chances to which Quim responded well to, not much else came from the P. Ferreira men, as Benfica kept the possession and compact lines.
P. Ferreira would eventually get their goal in the 67th, as a slip by Amorim allowed a freebie to the Ferreira forward.
The goal seemed to give a bit of fresh air to the home team, but Benfica's domination of the midfield and the entrance of Weldon to pressure the P Ferreira back line seemed to put a stop to any further plans the home team had.

As i have said, an easy win, in a typically hard field, but that easy win comes in virtue of the team's work rate in the first half.
The early goal opened up the game, the second goal provided security, and the third goal got us the win. It was that easy, a win in the first half, and then a very respectable style of play to put the game to sleep in the second half. There will be times where the team will need to slow down their game, while still playing a good cohesive defensive game in order to neutralize their opponents, and that's what happened in this game.
Not only did Benfica manage their win, but they were also able to manage their levels of fatigue, which was something that could have been a very important factor in this game.

All the pundits and false disgrace prophets can go back into exile, as this team is here to stay, there are no comparisons that can be made to last years team, absolutely none.

2 weeks to recuperate the team, and to get ready for the start of the Portuguese Cup campaign, in the meantime, let's hope that our "Internationals" come back healthy.


Photo Credit Paulo Duarte/ AP