Awful start sees Benfica lose derby to Sporting | OneFootball

Slip-up at the rival’s ground. On the afternoon of this Friday, April 24, the under-23 team was in action in another highly demanding match. Benfica visited Sporting’s home in a clash from the 13th round of the Liga Revelação Championship Phase, where the Eagles lost 2-1.

Gonçalo Sobral, Juvenal Correia, Diogo Rocha, Guilherme Gaspar, Vladimir Mendes, Leandro Martins, Tomás Cruz, André Gomes, Olívio Tomé, João Capucho and Jair Monteiro were Vítor Vinha’s starting picks. On the bench, the coach also had Luka Velickovic, Ismael Dabo, Marcelo Branco, Ricardo Fernandes, António Ferreira, João Pedro Gonçalves, Stevan Manuel and Guilherme Castro.

Playing at Estádio Aurélio Pereira, at Academia Cristiano Ronaldo, the Reds got off to a bad start, allowing the Lions to celebrate in the very first move of the match as they opened the scoring through a Guilherme Gaspar own goal (5'). However, Benfica managed to respond and equalised thanks to Diogo Rocha (21').

Before the break, Sporting showed their authority and made it 2-1 before half-time after a powerful strike from Diogo Martins (25'). In the second half, Vítor Vinha made a few changes in an attempt to turn things around, but Benfica were unable to find an equaliser again. After several chances for both sides, the scoreboard confirmed a 2-1 win for Sporting.

As a result, the club from Luz sees its good run in the competition come to an end, after important wins against Santa Clara and Leixões. All things considered, after 13 matches played, the Reds remain in fourth place with 18 points. Sporting, meanwhile, stay in last place with 8 points.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.