Porto beat Benfica 3-1 in the Primeira Liga on matchday seven at Estádio do Dragão on Sunday evening. The hosts opened a two-point gap at the top of the table, moving to eighteen points from six games while Benfica dropped to second with sixteen.
The turning point
And here's the thing — the match really changed around the twenty-fifth minute. Lenglet picked up a yellow for Benfica, and then by the thirty-fifth he was off, a red card that left the visitors chasing the game for the rest of it. Porto had already taken the lead through Gabri Veiga in the thirty-first, and they never looked back after that.
Victor Froholdt doubled the advantage in the fifty-fourth, and Alexander Bah added a third shortly before that in the fifty-first. Benfica pulled one back through Hwang In-Beom in the sixtieth, but the damage was done. The away side never really recovered their shape after losing Lenglet.
Porto worked the channels effectively throughout, switching to a back three at half-time to manage the game. They have seen it out with composure, closing out what had been a tight contest before that red card changed everything. The old head settled them down when things got nervous.
By the numbers
Porto had 45 per cent possession but created more danger. They registered 1.3 expected goals against Benfica's 0.84, and their shots on target were seven to three. The visitors had more passes — 425 to 343 — but Porto's accuracy was higher at 35 per cent compared to 25 per cent. Benfica keeper made four saves to Porto's one.
We had called for a home win with 40 per cent confidence going into this one, and the result confirms that assessment. Benfica were not at their best, and Porto took their chances when they mattered most. The away end never stopped, but the result was never in doubt after minute thirty-five.
