Benfica slip up and miss chance to go top of the league | OneFootball

The Benfica junior team did not go beyond a 1-1 draw at home against União de Leiria (1-1). Playing at home, the Eagles and the team from the West played a match for the 13th round of the 1st phase of the National Under-19 Championship.

On the afternoon of last Saturday, December 7, the team led by Luís Araújo — which, in the previous match, had defeated Ajax 4-0 in the Youth League — sought to match the current leader of the competition. Against Leiria, the following team took the field: Leonardo Lopes, Duarte Soares, Dinis Telehovschi, Miguel Galinho, Nilson Semedo, André Vakulyuk, Rúben Correia, Isaac Ferreira, Tiago Rodrigues, João Afonso, and Gustavo Ferreira.

Playing at the Benfica Campus, the goalposts were the worst enemy of the red team. In the first half of the game, the Clube da Luz had some goal opportunities, but the ball did not find its way into the net. At halftime, União de Leiria was leading 1-0, thanks to a goal by Martim Soares (33').

In the second half, Luís Araújo's team entered with a hunger to change the score and wasted no time. However, similar to the first 45 minutes, the goalposts continued to prevent the Eagles from reaching the much-desired goal. Finally, the Glorious only managed to equalize the match with a finish by Duarte Soares in the 64th minute.

With this result, Benfica missed the opportunity to match the league leader. After 13 rounds, the red and white team remains in second place, with 24 points, three behind União de Leiria. The next game is on December 10, at home against Napoli, for the Youth League.

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