Pavlidis bags hat-trick, Benfica stand strong against Estoril | OneFootball

In the first match of the year, the professional team of Benfica started 2026 on the right foot by defeating Estoril 3-1, in a match marked by a hat-trick from Vangelis Pavlidis. The duel, held at Estádio da Luz, was part of the 17th and final round of the first half of the Liga Portugal Betclic. Check out the match highlights.

José Mourinho - who did not count on Barrenechea - initially bet on Anatoliy Trubin, Amar Dedić, Tomás Araújo, Nicolás Otamendi, Samuel Dahl, Richard Ríos, Manu Silva, Gianluca Prestianni, Leandro Barreiro, Georgiy Sudakov, and Vangelis Pavlidis. Early on, the reds took control of the game against a competitive Estoril.

At the half-hour mark, Pavlidis opened the scoring with a penalty kick and, in injury time of the first half, scored again, putting Benfica ahead 2-0. However, before the break, João Carvalho reduced the deficit for Estoril, taking the game to halftime with a 2-1 scoreline.

In the second half, both teams created opportunities, but it was Benfica who was effective once more. About ten minutes before the end, Pavlidis completed the hat-trick and sealed the result at 3-1.

With this victory, Benfica returned to winning ways in the championship after a draw against Braga, adding three more points and closing the gap to the second-placed team, Sporting. The Eagles finish the first half of the Liga Portugal Betclic in third place, with 39 points.

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