Hearts 1-1 Benfica: Eagles book their place in Europa League playoff | OneFootball

Benfica players applaud the travelling support in Edinburgh after their 1-1 draw against Hearts. (Photo: WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

Benfica drew 1-1 in Edinburgh tonight to complete a 7-2 aggregate victory over Hearts. The victory sets up a playoff against Danish outfit Aarhus for a place in the league phase of the UEFA Europa League.

The Eagles were virtually qualified before kick-off having won the first leg 6-1 at the Estádio da Luz one week ago.

Coach Marco Silva took the opportunity to make several changes to what has been his usual starting XI. Full-backs Amar Dedic and José Neto, midfielder Richard Ríos, wingers Dodi Lukebakio and Andreas Schjelderup, and striker Jhon Durán all got their first starts of the season.

Although understandably far from cohesive given the quantity of changes, the visitors were well on top in the first half. Durán, Ríos and Schjelderup all threatened to open the scoring, although Dedic came closest to finding the net, his header deflected onto the crossbar.

The second half was a different story with Hearts launching several dangerous raids. In the 55th minute Calvin Miller tapped in from close range after a fine move, only for the celebrations among the home fans and players to be cut short for an offside in the buildup.

The hosts continued to push forward and were rewarded in the 77th minute when Tómas Magnússon latched onto a loose ball 25 yards from goal and smashed a tremendous shot past Samuel Soares into the corner of the net.

The lead was short-lived however, with Lukebakio guiding in a well-place equaliser from the top of the box just two minutes later, after being assisted by José Neto.

Benfica almost snatched a late winner but Hearts goalkeeper Beau Reus made a good save from Leandro Barreiro’s fierce close-range shot.

Benfica coach Marco Silva:

“Mission accomplished. We did what we had to do in the first half, not in the second half. We did not start the second half well, which we have talked about as it has been a recurring problem.

“But with seven changes, it was proven that some players are not yet ready to play the 90 minutes. We did not press as I would have liked.

“There were situations we wanted to try out tonight. The four-man defence that played here will probably not be repeated again this season. But it was important to give players playing time in a competitive game.

“We wanted to win the match, but some aspects were to be expected.”