Last update 13 January, 2013 by Julio Muñoz
With four goals in the first 17 minutes, this time the great portuguese classic started, Benfica-Porto, a duel not suitable for heart patients that ended in a draw at two, so everything remains the same in the hand-to-hand fight that both maintain for the league title. With this result, Lisbon continues at the top of the table with three points ahead of its rival, although this one has one game less.
The game did not take long to bring strong emotions. When the two teams still settled on the pitch, a free kick taken in the minute 7 by Joao Moutinho -el “cerebro” of this Porto- Jackson Martínez did not manage to finish it off nor did the Argentine Ezequiel Garay clear it, but the French central defender Mangala appeared there to put his head in and open the scoring.
El golpe, instead of leaving ”grogui” to Benfica, he did nothing but spur him on. Another set piece play, in this case a short corner taken three minutes later, ended up in the boots of Serbian midfielder Matic, who hooked a spectacular volley from outside the area with his left foot that slipped through the entire squad. Helton could only watch. The duel was revolutionized, and an error with the ball at the feet of the Porto goalkeeper was followed by another by the Lisbon goalkeeper, Artur, but with worse result.
Pressured by Jackson Martinez, ended up losing the ball in the corner, allowing the striker to go to goal and score at an empty goal. Only the minute was running 14 and the street runner did nothing but continue. The jug of cold water that it supposed for the “Eagles” the goal of the Colombian international was remedied three minutes later by the Argentine Gaitán, today one of those who shone the most among his, who took advantage of a bad rejection of Hélton to Salvio's center to put the equalizer again.
The connection of the Argentine wingers of Benfica was precisely one of the most outstanding in the team coached by Jorge Jesús, that today he did not carry the weight of the match as usual and created more danger with fast attacks using the speed and overflow of his two wingers. Stratagem contrary to that used by the “dragons”, with a much slower pace of play, and in which the loss of Colombian James Rodríguez was noticeably noticeable, erected as the star of the team since the departure of the Hulk.
Only the class of Moutinho and the quality of Jackson Martínez stood out in the Blue and Whites. In the second half, and without substitutions in any of the two teams, the duel continued along the same paths, without a clear dominator and without the ball barely passing through the center of the field. A reflection that the game had lost intensity was that the first scoring chance did not come until the 67, when Salvio did not know how to take advantage inside the area and resolve against Hélton to put the locals ahead.
Cardozo had even more frank ten minutes later, whom Gaitán left alone in front of the goalkeeper with an assist of merit, but the Porto goalkeeper scored the stop of the night by brushing the Paraguayan's shot with his mitten, deflecting the ball just enough so that it hit the post and ended up in a corner.
A special moment was experienced today at the Da Luz stadium with the entrance of the Argentinean Pablo Aimar into the game rectangle -most of the spectators received him standing-, who is speculated that he could be close to leaving Lisbon and ending up in Dubai after a start to the campaign in which he played a few minutes due to his physical problems. On the Porto side, one of the highlights was the premiere with fifteen minutes to go before the final whistle for Marat Izmailov, signed in this winter market and from Sporting Lisbon.