PortuGOAL
·15. Februar 2025
Sporting held by Arouca at Alvalade as Benfica pass Santa Clara test in the Azores

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Yahoo sportsPortuGOAL
·15. Februar 2025
A manic game in Lisbon tonight ended Sporting 2-2 Arouca. The visitors took the lead thanks to a comical own goal by Sporting goalkeeper Rui Silva. Conrad Harder soon equalised for the hosts, but Arouca retook the lead on the stroke of half time through a penalty converted by Henrique Araújo.
Things got worse for Sporting when captain Morten Hjulmand was sent off just after the hour. Despite the man disadvantage, the Lions equalised through Francisco Trincão. Arouca missed glaring chances to score before and after the Sporting goal, Rui Silva redeeming himself with a series of tremendous saves, but Harder and Viktor Gyökeres also came close to snatching a dramatic winner for the home team.
Earlier on Saturday, Benfica faced a difficult trip to the Azores, the Eagles coming away with a narrow 1-0 win over high-flying Santa Clara thanks to a lone strike by new signing Bruma, the former Braga winger scoring in the 55th minute.
The islanders fought hard, even when reduced to 10 men following Sidney Lima’s red card, but a much-changed Benfica (debuts for Leandro Santos and Samuel Dahl) clocked up a third successive win in the Primeira Liga to stay in the hunt for the title.
Benfica are now just two points behind leaders Sporting with the Lisbon derby - the penultimate match of the season - looking more and more like it could be the championship decider.
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