The game wasn't a very good one, all the play was stuck in the midfield and there were too many fouls. I have to give Nelo Vingada credit though, he has Academica playing good defense. Not the most exciting futebol but he saved their arse last season. They didn't give Benfica many good scoring opportunities. I guess now that Perreira got himself a red card, we are going to see Nelson rushed into the RB spot.
I only got to see the first half and there wasn't much to see. Karyaka with a great chance at goal and squandered it. Anyone else think that the offside flag would've gone up if that ball went in?
For sure. The ref had some weird calls and decisions. Deonatan (i am not sure of the spelling) should have gotten two yellows and therefore a red.
It was a good call that he was onside since with the new rule you have to touch the ball before the flag is raised. Nuno Gomes was offside, but, he let the ball go to Karyaka. However, with the Portuguese linesmen, if that ball went in, I think he would've called Nuno Gomes offside. What do you say to 0-0 results though? It's a point. But, still a bit disappointing. They couldn't break through a tough defense. Benfica start title defence with an away draw The visitors went closest to scoring when Brazilian winger Giovanni header against the bar on the hour. Yep. 0-0 does that to you.
I thought the ref did a decent job considering all the fouls. The offsides are because of the offside trap Academica is using. Anytime a pass was about to be made their back four moved up a foot or two. Anti-football, but all they need to do is tie the big teams. On Perreira's second yellow, it almost looked like he squeezed the player's family jewels
I still say that last year Benfica would have lost this game. If you can take a positive from this is that in 2 official games Benfica has allowed 0 goals. The negative is that in 2 games they only score 1 goal.
Well Benfica's defence is much stronger this year. 3 very good CBs. IMO Anderson will prove to be one of the best signings Benfica has made in years. Rocha at LB is a mistake by Koeman. He just doesn't have the pace to link up with Simao effectively (he was running all over the place). I keep hearing about Benfica needing a striker but what you really need is a number 10. What I see wrong with this team, is the transition between defence to midfield and then to the fowards. Petit seemed to be the player controlling the flow of the midfield today...but he's out of his element here.
Rocha is a great CD but not a LB. He has no speed. I agree with you. I rather see Dos Santos there. Nuno Gomes actually played well yesterday. We need a 10 for sure. We haven't had a real one since Rui Costa left.
Benfica need someone who can create some danger. Simao isn't doing it. Karyaka and Assis didn't do it. Geovanni doesn't appar to be interested in crossing the ball. The best passer on the team is Nuno Gomes, but he's a forward. Baring any new players, they should try like heck to get the ball to Nuno Gomes and then let him shoot or dish off. Either that, or go to a 4-4-2 with both Gomes and Montorras in the game from the start (Benfica needs a third forward badly, at least for depth).