FC Porto beat Igualada 3-1, Carlo Di Benedetto bags a hat-trick | OneFootball

FC Porto won this Wednesday, on the field of Igualada (Spain), by 3-1, thanks to a “hat-trick” by Carlo Di Benedetto, in the first round of the group stage of the Roller Hockey Champions League.

The national champions defeated the leader of the Spanish championship: the Frenchman Di Benedetto scored the 'dragons' goals at seven, 32, and 35 minutes, and Marc González scored the hosts' goal at 48.

With this victory, FC Porto has three points and temporarily leads Group A of the main European competition – it was the only match played so far – which includes, besides Igualada, FC Barcelona, Reus, Saint-Omer, and Trissino.

Paulo Freitas lined up with Xavi Malián, Telmo Pinto, Pol Manrubia, Hélder Nunes, and Carlo Di Benedetto; Hélder Nunes and Di Benedetto combined right at seven minutes, when the Portuguese defender/midfielder feigned, attracted opponents, and assisted the French forward for an exemplary finish.

In this repeat of the Continental Cup semi-final, FC Porto – finalist of the last edition of the Champions – kept the score very open by only a minimal margin until halftime.

After the break, and following two standout saves by Xavi Malián, the duo from the first goal understood each other again: another assist from Hélder Nunes and another accurate shot by Carlo Di Benedetto for 2-0.

Number 19 of the blues and whites didn’t stop at a brace and soon completed the “hat-trick”, with Igualada reducing to a ‘consolation’ goal with less than two minutes to the end.

Carlo Di Benedetto still missed a direct free kick resulting from the 10th foul in the final moments of the match.

:

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