Benfica was brutally kicked out of the Taça de Portugal on Thursday evening. In o Classico against FC Porto, Jorge Jesus’ team was completely overwhelmed and after half an hour was 3-0 behind the scoreboard. Porto had to play the entire second half with ten men, but survived without too many problems. Porto advances to the quarter-finals and will host Benfica back into the competition in exactly seven days. The Champions League squatter between Benfica and Ajax is scheduled for February 23.
Both trainers showed the importance of the cup tournament in Portugal and virtually drafted their best possible team. However, both FC Porto and Benfica let his second goalkeeper start. Jesus rotates at o Glorioso usually in the forefront, this time opting for Darwin Núñez and Rafa Silva, leaving Roman Yaremchuk and Haris Seferovic on the bench.
Benfica was completely overwhelmed by Porto in the opening phase and faced a 2-0 deficit within seven minutes. Zaidu Sanusi hurled the ball in front of the goal in the first minute with an impressive throw-in, after which Evanilson tapped in from close range: 1-0. Shortly afterwards, Leite hit a high ball from the goal mouth, after which Vitinha shot in the rebound on the tip of the penalty area: 2-0.
On the other side, Núñez saw the connecting goal for Benfica rejected due to minimal offside, after which Porto further increased the score in the 31st minute. Luis Díaz cut past his opponent behind his standing leg in the penalty area and found Evanilson, who finished it from close range: 3-0. The goalscorer had to go off the field with his second yellow card just before half-time, after hitting João Mário with his arm in the face while shielding the ball.
After the break, Benfica looked for full attack with Yaremchuk, Everton and Seferovic, but it was Porto who hit the post from the counter through Mehdi Taremi. Benfica became dangerous twice in the remainder of the game via headers from Nicolás Otamendi, who first aimed narrowly and then seemed to score. However, the goal did not last because of offside. Otamendi took his second yellow card in the final phase after a hard blow against Díaz and therefore misses o Classico from next week. A good free kick by Porto midfielder Sergio Oliveira was also rejected due to an annoying offside by Fábio Cardoso.