Benfica 2-1 Liverpool

Posted Friday, April 02, 2010 by Goal.com

Babel sent off as Cardozo nets penalty brace...

A brace from Oscar Cardozo cancelled out an early goal from Daniel Agger to give Benfica a 2-1 win going into the second-leg of the Europa League quarter-finals against Liverpool.

Travelling to the Stadium of Light will no doubt bring back bad memories for Rafael Benitez, who saw his side lose 1-0 in Lisbon in 2006 before tonight’s opponents knocked the then Champions of Europe out of the competition in the first knockout stage.

One change was made to the reds line-up which faced Sunderland at the weekend, with the ineligible Maxi Rodriguez dropping out of the squad, being replaced by Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva.

Rafael Benitez will have been well aware of the danger provided by former Valencia man Pablo Aimar, who started for Benfica, playing just behind Oscar Cardozo, with Angel Di Maria looking to provide support from the left-hand side.

The opening minutes of the first-half provided little in the way of chances for either of the two sides, with the slippery pitch at the Stadium of Light ensuring that neither of the two teams could really take control of the game.

But it didn’t take long for Liverpool to get their first chance of the match, with Steven Gerrard playing a low-ball into the box from a free-kick on the left-hand side which Daniel Agger connected with in order to slot it into the bottom left corner of Julio Cesar’s goal with just under ten minutes played.

The reaction of the Benfica players was a positive one following on from conceding early, with the Lisbon side moving quickly down the wings and sending some dangerous balls into the box, with Cardozo having two good efforts which he failed to convert.

Aimar and Di Maria continued to pile the pressure on the Liverpool back-four, with Aimar breaking through the reds defence and seeing his shot saved by Pepe Reina before Di Maria went on a blistering run down the left-hand side, running past a number of Liverpool players and into the box before his run was cut short by Jamie Carragher.

With just 31 minutes gone the game saw its first bit of drama, with Luisao being booked for a kick on Liverpool front man Fernando Torres, however the Benfica defender wasn’t happy with the decision, leading to an argument with Liverpool winger Ryan Babel, ending with the Dutchman putting a hand in Luisao’s face, resulting in a red card.

Minutes after the sending off Liverpool once again put the ball into the back of the net, with Torres heading in following a Gerrard free-kick past Cesar, but this time the Swedish referee disallowed the goal after the linesman had flagged to indicate the Spaniard was offside.

In the dying minutes of the first-half Liverpool looked to attack through a corner, with a Gerrard cross finding Torres following a deflection, but the striker failed to react to the fast-arriving ball, mis-hitting it well wide of the Benfica goal.

Benfica were the quickest of the mark in the second-half, with Cardozo missing two good chances early on, both from free headers inside the Liverpool box, sending one straight toward Reina and one well over the top of the crossbar following on from a corner.

With nearly an hour gone in the game Benfica’s pressure paid off, with Insua bringing down Aimar in the box, forcing the referee to award a penalty to the home side which forward Cardozo placed confidently into the right-hand side of Reina’s goal, bringing the home side level.

The home side made their first change with just under 70 minutes on the clock, bringing on Nuno Gomez to replace Maxi Pereira.

The Babel sending off clearly had an impact on Liverpool going forward, with the reds creating little to nothing in the first 20 minutes of the second-half, with Torres being the only player for the away side posing any real threat, but the Benfica defence handled the Spanish forward well, ensuring he had no real chances to add a second for the reds.

With just over fifteen minutes left in the second-half Benfica made their second substitution of the game, bringing on Filipe Ruben Amorim in place of Jorge Carlos Martins.

After playing a good one-two with Dirk Kuyt, Torres found himself one on one with the keeper, however, uncharacteristically, the Liverpool striker fired just wide left of Cesar’s goal, wasting Liverpool’s best chance of the second-half.

With just over ten minutes to go Di Maria once again made a break down the left-wing, but saw his attempt ball into the middle deflect off the hand of Carragher, leading to the ref award Benfica their second penalty of the evening. Cardozo once again struck well into the bottom right corner, this time sending Reina the wrong way to extend the home sides lead.

In an attempt to ensure Torres didn't pick up a yellow card which would rule him out of the second-leg at Anfield Rafael Benitez decided to make his second substitution of the game following on from the penalty, taking off the front man and bringing on David N'gog.

Not long after Benfica made their third and final change, taking off veteran midfielder Aimar and bringing on Brazilian Airton.

Rafael Benitez's side will take some positives from the game, most notably getting what could be a vital away goal at the Stadium of Light, but the suspensions picked up by both Babel and Insua will cause more selection headache's for the Liverpool manager going into the second-leg.

The home will be pleased with their performance, though going into a European game at Anfield with such a narrow advantage will mean everyone in the Benfica side will have to be at their best if the want to progress to the next round.