Benfica rallies late to beat Gil Vicente 3-1 with stoppage-time goals

Gil Vicente's lead lasted all of six minutes. Hector Hernandez put the visitors ahead with a crossed finish off a quick counterattack, silencing the Estadio da Luz for a while. But the match ended 3-1 in Benfica's favor, and it took the entire second half plus a nerve-wracking finish to get there: the second goal didn't arrive until the 86th minute, and the third came in stoppage time, in the 92nd.

The equalizer came quickly, in the 28th minute, when Vangelis Pavlidis struck a right-footed shot from the center of the box to make it 1-1. Before that, Benfica had already come close with a Leandro Barreiro header that went over the bar and a shot from Gianluca Prestianni that grazed the post. The home side dominated possession, racking up 14 corners in the first half alone, but struggled to find the goal its superiority deserved. Pavlidis himself had another clear chance in the 19th minute, heading against the crossbar.

The second half followed the same script: plenty of home possession, little to show for it. Gil Vicente defended with discipline and even created a scare or two, like Andreas Lausen's shot in the 91st minute that the goalkeeper smothered low. But the match broke open in the closing stretch. In the 85th minute, Tidjany Toure brought down Fredrik Aursnes in the box for a penalty, and Pavlidis made no mistake from the spot to make it 2-1. It was his second goal of the night. Just six minutes later, in the 92nd, Gianluca Prestianni finished into the top corner off an assist from Claudio Echeverri to seal the final 3-1.

Dominance the numbers back up

The match stats reflect fairly well what played out on the field: a Benfica side that controlled the ball and piled up attempts, though its finishing took time to click.

According to our post-match estimate based on shot location, Benfica generated 3.10 expected goals in the match, against 1.19 for Gil Vicente. A number that, the early scare aside, ended up matching the final score: the home side created far more scoring chances, though it had to wait until the end to convert them.

What it means in the standings

With this result, Benfica remains in second place in Liga Portugal, with 16 points from 6 matches played (5 wins and 1 draw), 9 points behind the league leader. Gil Vicente, for its part, sits on 7 points from 5 matches (2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses), in ninth place.

The match also had a few other storylines: a yellow card for Enzo Barrenechea in the 11th minute, another for Hector Hernandez in the 25th, one for Joao Palhinha in the 62nd after coming on from the bench, and cards for Lucao and Ricardo Esgaio late on. There were also several substitutions in the second half, including Jhon Duran, Dodi Lukebakio and Echeverri himself, who ended up being decisive with the assist for the third goal.

In the end, the scoreline reads 3-1, but the real story was of a team that dominated from start to finish and still had to wait until stoppage time for the scoreboard to reflect what it had done on the field for 90 minutes.