Benfica beat Olhanense in Portuguese league

Lisbon, Dec 16 (IANS) Benfica beat Olhanense 3-2 in the 13th round of the Portuguese League at Algarve stadium, near southern city of Faro.

Olhanense dominated the first half of the match on Sunday. Femi Balogun scored the first goal in the seventh minute after Federico Dionisi’s attempt bounced off the goalkeeper, reports Xinhua.

Benfica forward Rodrigo Lima equalised in the 19th minute after a pin-point cross from Argentine midfielder Nicolas Gaitan on the left flank.

Paulo Regula put Olhanense ahead again, with a powerful effort from 25 metres out.

Just six minutes later, Benfica’s Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic made it 2-2 with a brilliant shot from outside the area.

Sulejmani put his team ahead for the first time in the 47th minute, with a left-footed effort from the left flank.

Benfica failed to make it to the knockout round of the European Champions league but are now in the third place in the Portuguese league with the same 30 points as Porto, just two points behind league leader Sporting, who beat Belenenses 3-0 on Saturday.