Porto 1-0 Benfica - Jan Bednarek's goal the difference as the Dragons advance in the Taça de Portugal | OneFootball

Porto beat Benfica 1-0 in a fiery Taça de Portugal quarter-final clash at Estádio do Dragão.

It was an action packed start with plenty of aggression on display, Porto applying pressure and making it count in the 15th minute. Gabri Veiga's corner was met by Jan Bednarek who outmuscled Leandro Barreiro and headed the ball past Anatoliy Trubin.

Gabri Veiga and Victor Froholdt tested Trubin in quick succession but Benfica fought back. Amar Dedic went close and Sidny Cabral, who was making his first start for José Mourinho's side, was closed down by Pepê before he could get a shot away.

Richard Ríos picked up an arm injury and was carried off the pitch, the midfielder replaced by Georgiy Sudakov. Tempers flared up in added time which saw Dedic, Vangelis Pavlidis and Samu all booked following a minor fracas.

Leandro Barreiro forced a save from Diogo Costa on the stroke of half-time, Dedic getting another chance that he blazed over the bar.

The second half began with Benfica continuing where they left off, Pavlidis firing straight at Costa before Tomás Araújo went close. A bizarre situation then saw Fredrik Aursnes miss an open net from distance, Costa avoiding an embarrassing situation after abandoning his goal to check on Jakub Kiwior.

The substitutions started to flow with Francesco Farioli introducing Rodrigo Mora and William Gomes for Veiga and Borja Sainz. Araújo gave Costa some catching practice before Mourinho brought on Andreas Schjelderup for Gianluca Prestianni.

Jan Bednarek, who had picked up a knock early in the second half, made way for Alan Varela with Alberto Costa replacing Martim Fernandes. Pablo Rosario moved to central defence next to Thiago Silva who was making his first appearance after signing as a free agent.

Franjo Ivanovic replaced Cabral before Benfica missed a golden opportunity to equalise in the 90th minute. Schjelderup’s dangerous cross picked out Pavlidis in point blank range, but the striker couldn’t sort his feet out and the chance went begging.

Dragons on fire, Benfica fading

Francesco Farioli’s side made it eight straight wins to continue their charge towards a domestic double. The Italian manager has a hot hand and is playing it well, aided by few injuries and a near perfect recruitment strategy at Estádio do Dragão.

Despite missing the suspended Nicolás Otamendi who is Benfica's only natural leader, they created chances and largely held Samu in check. Barreiro went close before the break and Pavlidis will be wondering how he failed to equalise late on.

Regardless, José Mourinho’s side have exited two Cup competitions in the space of a week and it could be a long wait until the summer holidays. The Eagles remain unbeaten in the Primeira Liga but are ten points behind Porto at the halfway stage, and they have little chance of competing in the Champions League.

Two sides to the story

Mourinho felt his team were superior, saying: "The justifications are obvious. The better team lost, but suffered and didn't score. It's that simple. We controlled the game at will, against a team that has great intensity in attack and defense, a team of athletes with the DNA of true athletes.

"People who press a lot, who run a lot, but Benfica dominated the game from beginning to end. We conceded a goal from a set piece, where, due to some absences, our players who were out of position were Dahl, Barreiro and Dedic, marking Kiwior, Bednarek and Froholdt. We worked the ball a lot defensively, mainly because of the absences we had."

"Obviously without many goal opportunities, but with a dominance that seemed clear to me, against a team with high confidence. The fans feel this great moment and accept that their team is defending for 45 minutes. The goal we missed in the last minute is telling. If in the last game against SC Braga I was annoyed with the players, today I'm annoyed with the players."

Farioli, when asked if he agreed with Mourinho's assessment, said: "No. In this case, I don't agree. I usually agree with Mourinho, but in this case we deserved this result. We were close to conceding a goal, but in the first half we had two or three good opportunities."

"Of course, Benfica pressed, they are a good team, but I would say that overall it was a deserved victory. If they had scored, the goal would even have been disallowed."