Barreiro delivers, Prestianni seals it: Benfica rout Marítimo 0-3

Leandro Barreiro needed just six minutes to make clear which way this match was heading. The midfielder opened the scoring in the 6th with a left-footed strike into the top corner, and before the clock hit 70, he struck again with a header off a corner kick to make it 0-2. Gianluca Prestianni sealed the rout in the 81st minute with a clinical right-footed finish on the counter, and the final score read 0-3 in Benfica's favor at the Estádio do Marítimo, in Liga Portugal play.

The script of the match played out almost exactly as we projected: we had given the visitors a 75% chance of winning against just 8% for Marítimo, with expected goals of 2.46 for Benfica versus 0.69 for the home side. The final result actually exceeded that projection, and the match numbers confirm the visitors' dominance: our shot-based xG estimate had Benfica at 1.28 against just 0.20 for Marítimo.

A first half settled almost before it began

Benfica wasted no time. As early as the 4th minute, João Palhinha had given a warning with a header that sailed over the bar, and two minutes later came the first blow: Barreiro, capping a move that started with an attempt from Prestianni, finished left-footed to make it 0-1. The visitors kept creating chances through Vangelis Pavlidis, who rattled the post in the 16th minute, and Jakub Kaminski, who came close to a second goal shortly after. Marítimo, managing just one shot on target in the entire first half, held on at the break with a scoreline that flattered them given their rivals' control of the game.

The knockout blow in the second half

The second half opened with Marítimo searching for a response, with attempts from Martín Tejón and Adrián Butzke that failed to find the target, but Benfica struck again on the first clear chance they got after the restart. In the 70th minute, another corner kick produced a goal: this time it was Pavlidis who set it up with a header for Barreiro, also heading the ball home from close range, to complete his brace. The goal was confirmed after a VAR review. With the match already decided, Prestianni pounced on a counterattack in the 81st minute to make it a definitive 0-3, a couple of minutes after Jhon Durán and Enzo Barrenechea had entered as substitutes for the visitors.

The numbers tell an unambiguous story: Benfica doubled the possession share, nearly doubled the shot count, and tripled the shots on target. Marítimo, meanwhile, committed more fouls (22 to 14) in a match spent chasing the ball for much of the 90 minutes.

What it means in the standings

With this result, Benfica moves to 10 points and holds onto third place in the table, 3 points clear of Marítimo overall, who sit eighth with 7 points after what was their second defeat of the competition. Marítimo had little to offer in response: just one shot on target the entire match, and the stats show they couldn't even manufacture what's known in the trade as a big chance. Benfica, on the other hand, once again showed the ruthlessness the numbers had projected coming into the match and left no room for surprises at the Estádio do Marítimo.