Darlene opened the scoring for Benfica (25) in a shot from outside the area, but Sporting de Braga got the ‘goblet’ on the scoreboard with goals from Jana (38) and Agatha Filipa (68).
[dropcap type=”background”]S[/dropcap]porting de Braga beat Benfica 2-1 in their first leg of the semi-finals of the Portuguese Women’s Cup in which Benfica had more chances but the Arsenal players were more effective.
Darlene opened the scoring for Benfica (25) in a shot from outside the area, but Sporting de Braga got the ‘goblet’ on the scoreboard with goals from Jana (38) and Agatha Filipa (68).
With this result, Sporting de Braga, the leader of the national championship, takes advantage in the tie, winning the home of Benfica, and imposed to the ‘eagles’ the first defeat of the season.
The first minutes of the match was entirely dominated by Benfica, who in the first quarter of an hour had the opportunity to open the scoring on three occasions, with Darlene, Evy Pereira and Sílvia Rebelo showing lack of effectiveness at the decisive moment.
Totally relegated to their midfield in the first half of the first half, Sporting de Braga peeked into the attack for the first time in the 23rd minute, with Francisca firing a ball barely relieved by the Benfica defender.
At 25, Darlene opened the scoring for the ‘Eagles’. The Brazilian took advantage of a ball that remained at the entrance of the area after a corner and, first, hit the bottom of the Rute Costa goal.
On one of the few occasions when he approached the ‘incarnate’ goal, in the 38th minute, Sporting de Braga reached the equalizer. After a corner, Dani Neuhaus missed the interception and Jana, a defender of the youths, headed the 1-1.
Already in time for compensation, Darlene was close to putting Benfica ahead, but goalkeeper Rute Costa was not fooled after another good job by the Brazilian.
The break made well for the players of Sporting de Braga, who entered the second part more pressing on the ball and to take to Benfica the space that had to build in the first half. Still, the first half of the second half returned to belong to the ‘eagles’, at 57, with Geyse to finish off against Jana, after Darlene’s assistance.
The game had been on for 68 minutes when Agata Filipa broke through on the right, leaving the entire defence trailing in his wake. The Bracarense surprised everyone, put the ball on the second post and made it 2-1 to Sporting de Braga with an Olympic goal.
At 79, Laura Luis just entered, could have finished with the game. Dani Neuhaus, with a fumbling pass, put the ball in the feet of the Braga player, but the advanced dazzled and finished weak and the figure of the Brazilian guardian.
Until the end, Benfica settled in the midfield of Braga, was close to the equalizer for Maiara, in a header that began to scrape the post, but the Braga withstood the pressure ‘incarnate’ and secured the victory at home of the rival.
With this 2-1 triumph, Sporting de Braga are ahead on the undercard, which will be decided on April 20 in the second leg in Braga.
