Benfica hold off Monaco to reach Champions League last 16
Monaco twice led on the night and came close to forcing extra-time but Orkun Kokcu's 84th minute equaliser helped Benfica scrape through in Lisbon, with Barcelona or Liverpool awaiting in the next round.
Kerem Akturkoglu put the hosts ahead against the run of play, with Takumi Minamino levelling for Monaco after 32 minutes.
Eliesse Ben Seghir fired the visitors ahead but Vangelis Pavlidis struck from the spot to keep the score tied on the night.
French youngster George Ilenikhena netted in the 81st minute for Monaco but Kokcu prodded home to send Benfica through.
"It was a tough night, we knew Monaco would put pressure on us from the start and we felt it, we didn't play our best game," Kokcu told SportTV.
"Still, we're happy to have progressed to the last 16, I'm happy to have contributed to the result."
Monaco hammered Nantes 7-1 on Saturday in the French top flight, sharpening their pencils ahead of their crucial exam at the Estadio da Luz.
Both sides were without key players through injuy and suspension, with Benfica missing Angel Di Maria among others, while Monaco started with just one recognised midfielder.
Wingers Maghnes Akliouche and Ben Seghir played more centrally than usual and both shone in Lisbon, despite ending up on the losing side.
Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin made a good save to deny Monaco's Krepin Diatta early on, as the Ligue 1 side looked to get back on level terms in the tie and had the better of the first half.
However it was the hosts who took the lead after superb work by Benfica striker Pavlidis.
The Greek attacker, who netted a hat-trick against Barcelona in the group stage, turned provider on this occasion and, after darting into the area, crossed to the back post for Akturkoglu to turn home.
Swiss international Breel Embolo almost levelled for Monaco but his header hit the post, although the visitors netted less than a minute later.
Embolo did well to hold off veteran defender Nicolas Otamendi, allowing former Liverpool attacker Minamino room for a shot and he drilled home at the near post.
Monaco should have taken the lead just before half-time but Embolo fired a glorious chance high over the crossbar after the impressive Akliouche surged through the middle and teed him up.
A lot of fight
Ben Seghir forced Trubin into a fine save early in the second half, before pulling Monaco level at 2-2 on aggregate after 51 minutes.
The Moroccan winger produced a deadly accurate first-time finish inside the near post after Akliouche cut the ball back to him from the right.
Bruno Lage's side struggled to find a foothold in the match but Thilo Kehrer handed the hosts a lifeline when he went to clear the ball but arrived late and kicked Fredrik Aursnes in the box.
Pavlidis, who netted the only goal of the first leg, powered home from the spot for his seventh of the tournament.
Ilenikhena put Monaco back ahead on the night mere seconds after coming on from the bench, with Trubin unable to keep his low rifled effort out despite getting a hand to it.
Adi Hutter's side could not hold on for more than three minutes, with Alvaro Carreras firing in a dangerous cross which Benfica midfielder Kokcu flicked home.
Benfica were awarded another penalty in stoppage time when Diatta seemed to bring down Samuel Dahl, but the referee changed his mind after a VAR review.
"What made the difference today was 100 percent the team's spirit, with a lot of fight," said Dahl.
"The game had its ups and downs, they attacked, we attacked... in the end, we scored three goals.
"We also conceded three, but we advanced, which was the main objective."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Etihad
17 hours ago
- Al Etihad
Football: After heat, Club World Cup weathers storms and threat of lightning
21 June 2025 16:15 (REUTERS)From stifling heat to thunderstorms, the Club World Cup has been at the mercy of the extremes of the American summer, with the threat of lightning now forcing players to retreat to the tunnels while fans seek shelter as matches are suddenly soaring temperatures and oppressive humidity initially fuelled concerns among players and fans, it is the crackling skies and pouring rain that have emerged as the tournament's most disruptive match in Orlando between Benfica and Auckland City was suspended after halftime for nearly two hours due to a lightning storm in the the same venue on Tuesday, fans had barely settled into their seats when the referee ordered Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns to return to the dressing rooms, with the match delayed for more than an hour due to the threat of witnessed an even longer interruption when a severe thunderstorm suspended Red Bull Salzburg's clash with Pachuca for more than 90 and Al Ahly saw their contest in New Jersey halted for 50 minutes due to lightning near MetLife Stadium."Your attention please. For your safety, we are going to have everyone leave the Seating Bowl area and take shelter inside the stadium because of severe weather in the area," said a safety message flashed on the big screens in the arena."Event staff are available to guide and assist you. Those on the field, please walk calmly to the nearest tunnel... or to the service corridor." Threat of Lightning Heavy rain is often the X-factor for the home side on a cold, wet night in Stoke -- which lends itself to the famous English soccer cliche -- but the same cannot be said in the United to the country's National Weather Service (NWS), 75% of lightning-related deaths in the last decade occurred from June to organisers FIFA have weather protocols in place to ensure the safety of those on the pitch and in the there is lightning within 10 miles (16.09 km) of the stadium, an automatic match suspension is match director is informed, who in turn asks the referee to stop play. The storm is monitored before players are called back out, with the warm-up time before the restart dictated by the time they spent off the pitch. Fans are also asked to leave the stands and find shelter in the concourse, with one source saying the stadiums had the capacity to keep them inside until the storm passed.
Sharjah 24
a day ago
- Sharjah 24
Benfica knock out Auckland in delayed Club World Cup romp
With the Portuguese side leading by a goal at half-time the match was suspended because of a storm, eventually resuming two hours later. "This is the longest game of my career, a special thanks to our fans, who have been here for five hours supporting the team," said Benfica coach Bruno Lage. "We played as well as we could. The (hot) temperature made it very difficult." Auckland of New Zealand, the only Oceania Football Confederation representatives at the tournament, were thrashed 10-0 by Bayern Munich in their Group C opener and this defeat sealed their fate. Despite their eventual collapse, Auckland battled hard in the first half and almost made it to the break unscathed. Auckland goalkeeper Nathan Garrow made several good saves to keep Benfica at bay and the Portuguese side grew frustrated. Benfica took the lead deep into first half stoppage time when Gianluca Prestianni was clumsily felled in the area by Haris Zeb. Di Maria, who converted a spot-kick in the opening 2-2 draw against Boca Juniors, sent Garrow the wrong way. At half-time the match became the fourth in the last four days at the tournament to be impacted by a suspension for adverse conditions, with a storm arriving at the Inter&Co Stadium. When play eventually resumed, Benfica came back out strongly. Vangelis Pavlidis bundled his way through and smashed home to double Bruno Lage's team's lead in the 53rd minute, with Renato Sanches netting the third 10 minutes later from outside the box with a deflected effort. Luxembourg midfielder Leandro Barreiro bagged a brace to expand Benfica's lead, tucking home at the back post from Pavlidis' cross for the fourth before netting from close range. Rare for us Nikko Boxall brought down Di Maria in stoppage time and the Argentine World Cup winner beat Garrow from the spot again to wrap up Benfica's emphatic triumph. It was his third goal of the competition, bringing him level with Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala as the top scorers. Later Friday German giants Bayern take on Argentine outfit Boca Juniors in the other Group C match. Auckland coach Paul Posa, back on the bench after minor surgery stopped him joining up earlier with the team, said despite elimination his side would try their hardest in the final match against Boca on Tuesday in Nashville. "We will give it our absolute best shot, 100 percent guarantee that," he explained. "We don't get these opportunities, it's very rare for us to play teams of these quality, it has just about never happened and may be a long time before it happens again. "So we won't lie down and do Boca any favours."
Dubai Eye
3 days ago
- Dubai Eye
Young guns shine as Juventus hammer Al-Ain 5-0 at Club World Cup
Randal Kolo Muani and Francisco Conceicao both scored twice as the young guns of Juventus made a statement in their Club World Cup opener with a dominant 5-0 win over Emirati club Al-Ain on Wednesday. Kolo Muani grabbed both of his goals in the first half, Conceicao scored either side of the break while Turkey forward Kenan Yildiz also found the net as Juventus dazzled the crowd at Audi Field with some mesmeric football. "I'm very happy to win the game, the team played a great game so we're happy and now we'll get ready for the next game," said Kolo Muani. "I finished last season well and we've started this good as well." The convincing victory sent Juventus top of Group G level on three points with England's Manchester City, who beat Wydad Casablanca 2-0 earlier on Wednesday. Twice Asian champions Al-Ain conceded two thirds of the pitch for much of the first half and Juventus midfielder Khephren Thuram ran the show from about 35 metres out with Conceicao and Yildiz buzzing around in front of him. A neat exchange of passing in the 11th minute set Alberto Costa free on the edge of the box and the young Portuguese right back lofted over a cross which Kolo Muani met with a powerful header at the far post for the opening goal. Costa's fine work down the right flank 10 minutes later set up the second goal for Conceicao, who ghosted across the box before unleashing a shot which took a deflection and flew over the outstretched arms of Rui Patricio in the Al-Ain goal. A further 10 minutes on and the lively Yildiz took the ball on the left before cutting inside, taking two touches and firing a shot into the net off the post. Al-Ain had to push forward if they were going to get anything out of the game but they paid the price for their ambition in stoppage time at the end of the first half. A through ball from Thuram found Kolo Muani peeling off the last defender and the French striker slotted the ball into net with the outside of his right foot to take his tally to five goals in his last six games for The Old Lady. The Emirati side had a goal ruled out for offside at the start of the second half and skipper Kodjo Laba drew a fine save out of Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio in the 49th minute. Conceicao, however, put the game well beyond them in the 58th minute when he skipped into the box from the right wing and beat Portuguese Patricio for the second time with a fine low strike. Patricio finally showed the quality that earned him 108 Portugal caps to deny Kolo Muani a hat-trick in the 66th minute and Juventus substitute Douglas Luiz came close to further blowing out the scoreline in the last couple of minutes. Juventus next play Morroco's Wydad in Philadephia on Sunday, while Al-Ain, who lost to Real Madrid in the 2018 Club World Cup final, face City in Atlanta later the same day.
