Vangelis Pavlidis struck in the fourth minute of stoppage time as Benfica twice threw away the lead and still beat Estrela Amadora 3-2 at the Estadio Jose Gomes on Sunday, keeping the Eagles five points behind Primeira Liga leaders Porto going into the international break.
Benfica looked in control for long spells — they finished with 62 per cent of the ball, 15 shots to Estrela's seven and ten corners to one — but the hosts refused to fold, and only Pavlidis' late finish, laid on by substitute Andreas Schjelderup, finally settled a wild Matchday 11 contest, as the match report on Sportbursts detailed.
Prestianni strikes, Estrela answer twice
The visitors struck first on 26 minutes. Claudio Echeverri created the opening and Gianluca Prestianni finished it, continuing the young Argentine's eye-catching season after his Europa League heroics against Lech Poznan, when Prestianni was again on the scoresheet for Benfica.
Estrela's reply came three minutes after half-time. Rafa Soares set up Lovro Zvonarek to level at 1-1, and the home crowd sensed an upset against a Benfica side who had controlled the first half without killing the game.
Benfica went back in front on 68 minutes in fortunate fashion, Bernardo Schappo turning the ball into his own net, but Estrela were not done. Leandro Antonetti made it 2-2 on 76 minutes from Joan Jordan's assist, and at that point the Eagles were staring at two dropped points and a seven-point gap to Porto, who had already won this weekend.
Pavlidis delivers at the death
With the clock deep into added time, Benfica found the moment their dominance had promised. Schjelderup, sent on for Rafa Silva in the 77th minute, turned provider in the 94th, and Pavlidis did the rest — the Greece striker finishing the move that sparked wild celebrations in the away end, with the full timeline recorded by Total Football Analysis.
It was the kind of finish title races are built on. Benfica had the better of almost every number in the match — five shots on target to two, and wave after wave of pressure from their corners — yet they needed their centre-forward to bail them out at the very last opportunity after twice failing to protect a lead.
So what does it mean?
The win takes Benfica to 28 points from 11 games, five behind a Porto side who show no sign of slowing after their own victory at Vitoria Guimaraes on Saturday. A draw in Amadora would have left Benfica seven back and handing Porto real breathing space at the summit; instead the gap stays at five and the pressure, however slight, stays on the leaders through the international break.
For Estrela, there is pride but no points. Twice coming from behind against one of the league's giants, scoring twice and pushing the game to the 94th minute, is a performance their supporters will remember — but the table does not reward near misses, and a side that concedes three at home will feel this was a famous result that slipped through their fingers in the final seconds.
Beyond the Final Whistle verdict: this is exactly the sort of ugly, late, season-defining win champions collect and challengers drop. Benfica's defending of two separate leads was poor and will worry their supporters, but Pavlidis' 94th-minute winner keeps their title race alive — drop points here, and Porto's five-point lead would already have looked like a chasm.
Did Pavlidis just score Benfica's most important goal of the season so far? Let us know what you think in the comment section.
