Contrasting wins for Benfica, Porto

Portuguese football giants Benfica and FC Porto registered contrasting wins in their respective seventh round matches in the Portuguese league.

Benfica beat Arouca 4-0 here at the Estadio de Luz Stadium in Lisbon while Porto beat SC Braga 2-1 at the Dragao Stadium in Porto, north Portugal, Sunday night, reports Xinhua.

Benfica were slow and achieved very little within the first half, reflecting perhaps their 3-1 defeat last Wednesday by Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League.

Nevertheless Benfica goalkeeper Rei Artur managed to block dangerous efforts by David Simao and Artur in the first minutes.

The league leaders saw a second half turnaround, with Talisca opening the scoring in the 75th minute with a right-footed effort and Derley scoring five minutes later following a cross by Argentine winger Eduardo Salvio.

Salvio scored in the 83rd with a header after a cross by Dutch Winger Ola John, who also helped Jonas score in the 88th. Benfica remain isolated at the top of the Portuguese league, now with 19 points, four more than FC Porto. Arouca sit 13th with seven points.

Meanwhile, Porto were held to more pressure in the first half by Braga, though they created some dangerous scoring chances.

Martins Indi opened the scoring for Porto in the 25th minute after a header and Jose Luis equalised in the 32nd. Quintero put Porto ahead again in the 59th with a left-footed effort, after being served by Brahimi on the left flank.

Porto sit second in the Portuguese league with 15 points and Braga are seventh with 11 points.