HC Liceo Benfica: Group Stage Champions

On the night of this Thursday, February 5th, in a duel valid for the 6th round of Group B of the WSE Champions League, the Benfica managed to save a point when the curtain fell at HC Liceo (4-4) and maintained their unbeaten record this season.

Edu Castro’s men started the match well and, right after 3′placed themselves in advantage: Nil Roca recovered the ball in midfield, tabled with Roberto Di Benedetto and did the 0-1 in the Eagles’ first shot towards the goal.

However, HC Liceo reacted and turned the marker in the space of a few minutes. To the 4′David Torres scored the 1-1 following an individual play and, at 7′Toni Pérez pointed out the 2-1 with a subtle deflection from close range.

Galvanized, the hosts benefited from a penal to the 11′but Conti Acevedo defended the charge by César Carballeira.

In what was left of 1st partBenfica spent a lot of time in opposing mid lane. However, Blai Roca was solid in defending his goal and frustrated the eagles’ attempts until half-time.

At the entrance to 2nd partthe HC Liceo goalkeeper shone in the 28′to the 30′ and to 31′but at 35′it ended up being beaten.

First, João Rodrigues wasted a penalty to punish a foul suffered by Roberto Di Benedetto. In insistence of the eagles, the referees signaled the 10th foul to the hosts and, called to book the respective direct free, Zé Miranda made it 2-2 through a irreproachable execution.

Subsequently, Bruno Saavedra became the protagonist of the match. To the 37′the HC Liceo player scored the 3-2 in a mid-range cross shot and, at 39′, bumped into Conti Acevedo in a direct free kick a punir a 10th foul of eagles, having been expelled then in a move that culminated with Zé Miranda fallen on the track.

Em numerical superiorityo Benfica arrived immediately at draw. Already at 40′, Lucas Ordoñez invaded the area and ball was deflected by Nuno Paiva for his own goal for the 3-3.

Played at a very high pace and always under balance, the game entered the last minutes and, at 47′Nuno Paiva pointed out the 4-3 in a class finale.

Com lots of heart and determinationthe eagles did not concede the late goal and the justice on the scoreboard was restored to 49′. Nil Roca broke through the central corridor, deceived the defenders by threatening the shot and ended up isolating Gonçalo Pintowhich pushed the ball into the back of the net.

Leader of Group B, with 5 wins and 1 draw, Benfica remains well on its way in the fight to qualify for the next phase and now follows the return to the National Championship accounts: the eagles receive AD Valongo at 14h30 of the next domingo, February 8in a game of 15th round of the 1st phase (tickets HERE).