Benfica beat Newcastle United 3-1 at Estadio da Luz to take of their Europa League quarterfinal battle.
The hosts capitalised on second-half mistakes from Davide Santon and Steven Taylor to convert them to goals by Lima and Oscar Cardozo after Papiss Cisse’s goal was cancelled out by Rodrigo.
Cisse had a decent game, hitting the woodwork twice but Benfica hold a two-goal aggregate advantage headed to St. James’ Park for their second leg tie.
Benfica had the first attempt on goal after Nicolas Gaitan fired a shot from 35 yards out which went to Tim Krul’s hands, albeit initially fumbling the ball.
However, it was Newcastle who grabbed the initiative in the 12th minute as Danny Simpson’s pass found Moussa Sissoko in the right side and his cross found Cisse to score from six yards.
Cisse threatened again on the 23rd minute as his shot deflected off Ezequiel Garay and hit the post before Artur collected the shot on the line.
Two minutes later, Benfica found their equaliser as Oscar Cardozo’s shot was deflected by Krul but only for Rodrigo to react and smash the ball into the back of the net.
Krul was called to action many times after, with attempts from Andre Gomes and Ola John stopped by the Dutch international.
Benfica took the lead in the 65th minute as Santon’s backpass to Krul was intercepted by Lima who beat the keeper to calmly slot the ball into the empty net.
Making matters worse, Taylor handled a cross inside the box to give the hosts a penalty shot which Cardozo converted to the delight of the crowd.
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