Benfica ship three second-half goals in 3-1 defeat to British side | OneFootball

Benfica’s women’s team had another warm-up test ahead of the new season, this time against London City Lionesses, in Seixal. In a match played behind closed doors and at a good tempo, the English side ended up winning 3-1.

Without Ana Borges and Andreia Norton, who remain sidelined due to physical problems, Benfica started with Lena Pauels in goal, alongside Catarina Amado, Tinkara Testen, Carolina Simões, Marit Lund, Pauleta, Beatriz Cameirão, Caroline Møller, Lúcia Alves, Nycole Raysla and Frøya Dorsin. For the visitors, the standout names in the starting XI were Alexia Putellas and Mapi León.

The first half was very evenly balanced, despite the English side having a slight edge. Both teams managed to create dangerous chances, but neither was clinical enough to open the scoring, and the match went into half-time goalless.

The goals came after the break. Janni Thomsen put the London side ahead, but Ziqin Shao responded for Benfica and restored parity. The visitors regained the lead through Freya Godfrey and then made it 3-1 through Rosa Kafaji.

In the second half, Benfica’s coaching staff took the opportunity to test several options, bringing on Carolina Tristão, Chandra Davidson, Clarinha, Diana Gomes, Ariana Schafer, Madalena Loução and Flourish Sabastine. At the end, there was also a penalty shootout, with Lena Pauels standing out by saving two spot-kicks, in a drill that also featured two saves from the opposing goalkeeper.

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