Despite the helpful fog that rolled into Madeira and halted play for some time (and wreaked havoc on viewers on television), Benfica found themselves not only with a 2-0 win, but a clean sheet for the first time in far too long.
JJ went with a 4-3-3 and proved it very effective. Cardozo drilled in a beautiful shot with an amazing pass from Nico Gaitán in the 22'. After this goal, Nacional seemed to lose a lot of their momentum and instead turned into fouling as an effective way to play football.
It was rather distasteful to see the fouls consistently committed, and worse - not called, or called incorrectly. Witsel was aimed for an elbow, but the captain, Felipe Lopes, was only given a yellow. That particular foul was very ugly and had a tremendous impact on the game not only on but off the field.
Bruno César made an absolutely tremendous run at the end of stoppage time and managed to put one in the back of the net for Benfica like their goalie wasn't even looking. Artur is quickly moving up to be the best signing of the year for me, personally, with save after save and FINALLY a clean sheet. FINALLY. I've been waiting too long for it....
The best part is? Benfica is tied with Braga for the top of the table for this international break. Our first week of many at number one, I'm certain.
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