Benfica subs deliver late lift against Alverca | OneFootball

Match in Five Sentences: Benfica beat Alverca 2-1 at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica. In the 16th minute, Andreas Schjelderup opened the scoring for the hosts, and Anísio Cabral later nodded the late winner (86.). Lucas Figueiredo dos Santos equalised for Alverca (30.), then VAR ruled out Evangelos Pavlidis's finish for handball (60.). Águias finished with 63.5% possession and 10 shots on target from 29 attempts, turning the screw after the break. Encarnados visit Santa Clara next in the league, while Alverca travel to Tondela.

Player of the Match: Samuel Dahl drove Encarnados on from full-back, supplying five key passes and the precise cross for the winner while adding three tackles and three clearances.

Stat of the Match: Matheus Mendes produced eight saves, keeping Alverca in contention until Cabral's late header finally beat him.

Three Things We Learned: Águias out-shot Alverca by 29 to 6, underlining sustained territorial pressure. Nicolás Otamendi won six aerial duels and made 11 ball recoveries, anchoring the defence when the visitors pushed back. The VAR handball call against Evangelos Pavlidis (60.) proved a momentum swing after Alverca's equaliser.