With drama! Benfica struggle but snatch late comeback win in Madeira | OneFootball

Benfica arrived at the Madeira Stadium under pressure from the draw in the previous round and the need to not lose contact with Sporting and Porto in the standings.

They faced an intense, organized Nacional that wasn't afraid to speed up the game. And they almost paid the price.

They struggled but secured a 2-1 comeback with goals in the final minutes. 

Just 9 minutes in, Dahl found Leandro Barreiro free on the left. The midfielder placed a shot from the edge of the area, forcing the Brazilian goalkeeper to stretch to prevent the first goal of the afternoon.

Benfica responded still in the first half and even found the net at 44 minutes, with Pavlidis, after a confusing play inside the area. But VAR disallowed the goal for the Greek's offside.

Nacional returned more daring. At 53 minutes, Baeza launched Ramírez at speed, and the Venezuelan drove forward to finish with a curve, requiring a save. Two minutes later, Benfica missed a clear chance: Barreiro failed to control a low cross from Sudakov inside the small area.

The punishment came quickly. At 60 minutes, Alan Nunez intercepted a pass from Otamendi near the area, set up Paulinho Bóia, who just rolled it for Jesús Ramírez to score 1-0. The red response almost came at 63 minutes, when Pavlidis weaved through the defense in a Maradona-like play but was stopped by a great save from Kaique.

Benfica persisted until the end. At 89 minutes, Prestianni struck a shot into the left corner to equalize, giving the team new life. In stoppage time, Schjelderup found Pavlidis inside the area, and the forward struck first-time to turn the game around at 95 minutes.

The 2-1 victory keeps Benfica in the fight. They reached 28 points and now await the results of Sporting (28) and Porto (31) to understand the impact of this late comeback in Madeira.

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

📸 PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA - AFP or licensors