Stopping to Inhale
By: Greg | April 6th, 2007
What a sensational thriller of a UEFA Cup game between Benfica and Espanyol yesterday. The game went EXACTLY the opposite of how I predicted/thought it would.
Espanyol came out firing on all cylinders and Benfica was sleepwalking through the first half. Raul Tamudo got the goal carousel going with a fantastic thrashing of the Benfica defense in the 15th minute. A mere 18 minutes later, Albert Riera volleyed a cross which Benfica’s Nelson promptly headed in for him. How Riera was credited for this goal is beyond me.
For the second half, Pandiani converted a header 14 minutes in from a peach of a corner by Riera. Benfica’s defending again attempted to head the ball towards their own goal, but Pandiani beat the Benfica marker to the ball thus getting the tally for himself. No-No Gomes got the scoring started for Benfica in the 64th minute. David Luiz chipped a beautiful swerving through ball to Fabrizio Miccoli who centered to No-No for a gimme goal. Two minutes later, well in form Simao Sabrosa split two defenders and deflected the ball off an Espanyol defender and into the goal from about 12 yards out for the final goal of the game.
Benfica dominated the majority of the second half and created one or two more chances towards the closing minutes. A 3-0 loss would have been an absolute disaster. 3-2 means that they go home to the Estadio da Luz in front of a crowd twice the size of Espanyol’s looking for a low-scoring home win. The second leg takes place in Lisbon next week on the 12th.
Category: 
Subscribe
|
Print
|
Share
      |
Comments are closed
Home 
