Vitória halt Benfica’s winning run | OneFootball

Vitória Guimarães became the first team to stop Benfica winning a football match in 2022/23, deservedly holding the table-toppers to a goalless draw to end the Eagles’ 13-game winning run in all competitions.

In a hard-fought game neither goalkeeper was called into serious action. “I consider it a point won,” said Benfica coach Roger Schmidt, while Vitória manager Moreno praised his players and felt his team were denied the chance of earning all three points when the referee waved away strong penalty claims.

Benfica travelled to Guimarães with morale high after their sensational start to the campaign, and their fans will have expected nothing less than another three points. Benfica had returned from their annual trip to the Dom Afonso Henriques stadium with a win in each of the last seven seasons.

It did not pan out that way though. Only two teams have a better defensive record than Vitória this season – Benfica and Casa Pia – and the hosts were superbly organised to completely block Benfica’s game.

By aggressively populating the central areas of the pitch, Benfica’s main creative threats were blunted. Rafa Silva, João Mário and David Neres were completely nullified, with young Vitória centre-back Ibrahimi Bamba especially impressive as the game ended 0-0.

“It was a very tough match, so I consider it a point won,” was the honest appraisal of Benfica coach Roger Schmidt at the final whistle. “What went wrong? It’s normal in football; I do not expect us to win every game. Nothing we tried worked tonight. Vitória were organised and did a good job at stopping us.”

As for his opposite number, Moreno was pleased with his players but felt the result could have been even better. “I congratulate my players for the way they put into practice what we had worked on throughout this week. We were very balanced. Essentially what was lacking was having more calmness when we transitioned into attack, because the space was there.”

In a match with practically no attempts at goal, the main talking point was a potential penalty for the home side when André André fell in the box under a challenge by Florentino Luís.

“It was clearly a penalty on André André,” said Moreno. “I don’t understand why the VAR did not alert the referee to review the incident.”

Benfica fans will be hoping the sluggish display was a one-off and they will soon have the opportunity to find out. On Wednesday the Lisbon giants welcome PSG to the Portuguese capital in a Champions League clash in what will be a huge test of their credentials.

Vitória and Moreno will look to build on tonight’s performance, especially given a favourable set of fixtures before the Primeira Liga takes an extended break for the World Cup. Vitória face the three teams currently occupying the bottom three places in the Bwin Liga in their next five matches.