Benfica 1-1 Sporting: Lisbon rivals cancel each other out

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·5 December 2025

Benfica 1-1 Sporting: Lisbon rivals cancel each other out

Benfica and Sporting played out a 1-1 draw in a hard-fought Lisbon derby that was low on quality for the most part.

The visitors were rewarded for a strong start when Pedro Gonçalves took advantage of an Enzo Barrenechea mistake to slide the ball into the net in the 12th minute. Benfica equalised 15 minutes later when Georgiy Sudakov converted a Dedic cross.

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Neither goalkeeper was seriously tested for the rest of the match and Sporting could not take advantage of an extra man in the stoppage time period after Gianluca Prestianni was sent off as the game petered out in a tame draw. Tom Kundert reports from the Estádio da Luz.

Photo: Arlindo Homem ©

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Benfica came into the match three points behind the reigning Portuguese champions and six adrift of leaders FC Porto, but it was Sporting who took control of proceedings early on against a nervy and error-prone home side.

Some loose defending allowed striker Luis Suárez to cut into the box and engineer a shooting chance early on, Anatoliy Trubin keeping it out of the net with his outstretched foot.

Pote punishes mistake

Sporting continued on top with play largely restricted to the half of the pitch Benfica were defending. On 12 minutes Trubin rolled the ball out to Barrenechea who tried to turn but Hjulmand robbed the ball and passed to the completely unmarked Pote, who couldn’t believe his luck, rolling the ball past Trubin although the goalkeeper will feel he could have made a better fist of keeping it out.

The home supporters were starting to show their frustration but Benfica remained passive, Maxi Araújo not far away from doubling Sporting’s lead with a cross-shot.

Richard Ríos tried to kickstart his team with some energetic harrying and the Colombian won a free kick in a dangerous position, but Sudakov blazed his shot over the bar.

It proved a turning point though, as the crowd rallied and Benfica began to probe with more intent, Sporting’s players not helping themselves with some dangerous losses of possession in their own half.

Nevertheless, the feisty Maxi Araújo was not far away from making it 2-0 to Sporting after a mazy run and thunderous shot that flew wide.

Richard Ríos and Morten Hjulmand, Benfica and Sporting’s best players on the night, fight for possession (Photo: Arlindo Homem ©)

Swift Benfica move cuts open Sporting

But from their first well-worked move, Benfica equalised. Ríos slipped a neat pass to Dedic who hit the byline and crossed for Sudakov to bundle the ball into the net after getting the better of a tussle on the floor with Geny Catamo.

The home side were threatening to get on top as the fans sensed the momentum had turned. With half time approaching Benfica had an opportunity to fire a shot at goal but Dedic and Pavlidis left it for each other and a clear chance was gone.

The last chance of the half fell to Suárez who latched onto a long pass by Trincão, beat António Silva but was thwarted by an Otamendi tackle as he was about to shoot.

The second half became an increasingly scrappy and bad-tempered game as the minutes passed with little in the way of goalmouth action.

Dedic fired over the bar, then at the other end a stretching Suárez failed to connect with a Catamo cross.

Sporting coach Rui Borges was first to mix things up, bringing on Geovany Quenda and João Simões for Gonçalves and Morita. But Quenda was on an off-day, failing to make any meaningful impact on the game.

Benfica on top

The few half chances that were created fell to Benfica, Pavlidis and Aursnes testing Rui Silva, and Suárez making a goal-saving defensive header to save a certain goal for Ríos.

Perhaps Mourinho sensed that Benfica could grab the winner, but it was surprising to see a manager famed for making decisive changes from the bench wait so long to freshen up his team’s attacking potential, bringing on Prestianni in the 81st minute and Franjo Ivanovic in the 86th.

Prestianni’s main contribution was to hack down Geny Catamo with a tactical foul as the winger was about to race away on the break. Initially shown a yellow card, his tackle was deemed excessively violent by the referee after a VAR check and his yellow card was upgraded to a red, as the stoppage time board went up indicating seven minutes of added time.

Sporting could not make the man-advantage count though. A draw was a fair result, and the big winners of the night were the Liga Portugal leaders Porto who will go five points clear at the top of the table if they beat Tondela on Sunday.