Benfica downs Braga 2-1 in Europa League semifinal
Posted Friday, April 29, 2011 by YAHOO Sport
LISBON, Portugal (AP)—Second-half goals from Jardel and Oscar Cardozo helped Benfica to a 2-1 win over Braga in a first-leg Europa League semifinal on Thursday.
The first all-Portuguese semifinal in a continental competition burst into life after an uneventful first half, with three goals in 10 minutes.
Center back Jardel poked the ball in from short range in the 50th minute after Cardozo’s header bounced back off the post.
Vandinho headed in the equalizer from a free kick three minutes later, then Cardozo—who had already hit the woodwork twice—found the target with a curling free kick.
Benfica hasn’t lost a game in the Europa League this season, and has lost only once in 59 games at home to Braga.
The return leg in Braga is next week.
“It was a good result for us but we deserved to win by a bigger margin,” Benfica coach Jorge Jesus said. “They never really caused us problems.”
Benfica, which trails already crowned champion Porto by 19 points in the Portuguese league, lifted its last continental trophy 49 years ago when it was back-to-back European champion.
“It was an important win, but we have to press our advantage” in the return leg, Cardozo said.
Braga is third in the Portuguese league, 14 points behind Benfica. It has never come this far in a European competition and previously eliminated Liverpool, Seville and Celtic, but against Benfica it was far off the form that beat those clubs.
Benfica made most of the running at its Stadium of Light, with midfield playmaker Pablo Aimar leading the charge, but its attacks repeatedly broke down in the final third of the pitch.
Braga was nervous and its counterattack strategy was quickly contained by the home defense.
Javier Saviola provided Braga goalkeeper Artur Moraes with his first real test, volleying from the edge of the area in the 21st.
Cardozo broke through the Braga defense and shot against the post late in the first half, but it was little to show for Benfica’s midfield dominance.
Alain’s weak curling shot in the 42nd, scooped up without difficulty by Roberto, was Braga’s only first-half effort.
The visitors seemed happy to settle for the slim margin of defeat and defended with 11 men, leaving the decisive encounter for the second leg.
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