An eagle glided into a blackberry field

On a day when Benfica were preparing to go on holiday, Arthur Cabral scored a point to avoid defeat in the 90th minute. On a night of pouring rain, Roger Schmidt’s side slipped on difficult terrain and played with numerical superiority for even half an hour. Rival Sporting remains in the lead and has one game less.

Schmidt looked at the heavy serve and decided to remove Florentino and Arthur Cabral, leaving Rafa as the main striker. False nine for a false entry. It soon became clear that the true number 1 is important in this numerology.

Trubin began by preventing Jota Silva from scoring in the first seconds. He would do this half a dozen more times with Tomas Ribeiro, Nuno Santos and the other Silvas. Just from the penalty kick the wall fell.

Foul by Kokchu and Thiago Silva, the latter shot without a chance for Trubin. It was the 35th minute, and until that moment Benfica had only shown themselves with set pieces. It was after the corner that Benfica also showed great interest in Silva. Antonio released Di Maria, who with a masterful tripe helped Rafa and, of course, Silva, level the score.

During the break, Schmidt tried to correct the route – Florentino and Arthur replaced Coccia and Joao Mario. There were improvements, but they were short-lived. As soon as they were free, Vitoria scored with a beautiful move through Andre Silva. But from beautiful to terrible – one step. Borevkovic entered the field like crazy and was sent off. Even with more, Benfica were less. Trubin had to prevent the score from 3:1, and Cabral scored a point – again with a pass from Di Maria – in the 90th minute. Anyone who walks in the rain… slips.