Benfica eye Cup final after first leg win in Porto

Benfica took a major step towards booking a place in the Portuguese Cup final by beating holders Porto 2-0 away in their semi-final first leg on Wednesday thanks to goals by Fabio Coentrao and Javi Garcia.

By (Reuters)

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Published: Thu 3 Feb 2011, 10:21 AM

Last updated: Tue 7 Apr 2015, 8:07 AM

Portugal left back Coentrao took advantage of a mix-up between keeper Helton and centre back Maicon to toe-poke in the first in the sixth minute.

Spanish midfielder Garcia scored the Portuguese champions’ second 20 minutes later from long-distance after a poor clearance by midfielder Fernando.

Porto, unbeaten in the Portuguese Premier League and eight points ahead of Benfica, were a shadow of the team that had thrashed their Lisbon rivals 5-0 on their last visit in November and failed to pose any consistent danger.

They missed their prolific Colombian striker Radamel Falcao, who was out injured, and could not break down a well-organised Benfica defence even after Coentrao was dismissed for a second booking on 59 minutes.

The second leg will be played in Lisbon on April 19.



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