Benfica sink Villarreal, good signs before St. Gallen clash | OneFootball

Benfica beat Villarreal 2-0 in a match played at the Algarve Stadium. After the defeat to Flamengo, the team coached by Marco Silva showed promising signs ahead of their first official match of the season, scheduled for next week against St. Gallen.

Compared to the starting eleven used in the previous match, the Benfica coach made two changes. Samuel Soares took over in goal in place of Anatoliy Trubin, while Kaminski replaced the injured Jaden Umeh. António Silva also started, at a time when he continues to be linked with a possible move to Bournemouth.

The first half was evenly balanced in the opening minutes, but Benfica eventually took control of proceedings. Rafa Silva came close to opening the scoring from a corner, but headed over the bar. Despite the Eagles’ greater dominance, the match lost intensity before the break, with Villarreal also wasting a good chance to score.

The deadlock was broken in the 53rd minute, when Pavlidis won the ball back in midfield and set up Rafa Silva. The Portuguese forward left two opponents behind before finishing with a delicate touch over Luiz Júnior, scoring a goal of great quality. Then, in the 76th minute, Prestianni picked out Pavlidis in the box and the Greek international made no mistake, making it 2-0 with a placed finish into the far corner.

Until the final whistle, Benfica managed their advantage and still came close to extending the lead, but Daniel Banjaqui saw his effort blocked by the Spanish defense. With this victory, the Eagles now turn their attention to the clash with St. Gallen, which will mark the official start of the 2026/27 season.

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