Mathieu Warnier, Media365: Published on Saturday, September 30, 2023 at 11:20 am.
The “Classico” of Portuguese football witnessed Benfica's narrow victory at home against FC Porto, in which former Parisian star Angel Di Maria played a decisive role.
Benfica remains irresistible this season in the Portuguese League. After the opening defeat at the Boavista Stadium, the Lisbon club did not suffer the slightest setback. This trend was confirmed by the “Clásico” that took place on Friday at the Estadio da Luz against Porto, which was unbeaten this season at the opening of the seventh day of the tournament. A match whose main player will remain Angel Di Maria. He returned to the Portuguese club this summer, thirteen years after his departure to Real Madrid. For their part, the 'Dragos' quickly lost their balance with Fabio Cardoso who was sent off in the 19th minute. The Portuguese defender received a red card for a foul on David Neres, who crept into Porto's defense and was about to challenge Diogo Costa. A sending off soon forced Sergio Conceicao to bring off his winger Romario Barrow to rebalance his defense with José Pedro coming on.
Di Maria resolves the situation
The Dragons then held on until halftime, tied scoreless. However, this resistance subsided at the beginning of the second half, as Orkun Cocu passed the ball to Diogo Costa's right post shortly before the hour mark, as Angel Di Maria succeeded in stopping the Benfica fans. A cross from the left wing was cleared by David Neres and slightly deflected by Alan Varela. The Argentine striker lurked when he approached six meters and shot with his left foot to deceive the alert Porto goalkeeper. Since then, the result has not changed, and thus Benfica inflicted on the “Dragos” team its first defeat of the season, and it was not without consequences. Indeed, the Lisbon club is temporarily at the top of the standings, two points ahead of Sporting and Porto. However, the other club from the Portuguese capital will have the opportunity to take control on Saturday during the trip to Farense.
