Chapter 211: Taca de Portugal Finals 2020 III
Chapter 211: Taca de Portugal Finals 2020 III
Chapter 211: Taca de Portugal Finals 2020 III
Benfica’s goalkeeper had rushed out trying to get to the ball first, but he had miscalculated the speed of the pass and had underestimated Tiquinho Soares’ determination to reach the ball so he had been caught off his line when Tiquinho got his leg to the ball first.
Before he could even make a dive, the ball had already flown past him leaving him crashing to the ground like a poorly scripted aftereffect as the ball smashed into the back of the net.
{And Oh! What a goal!}
{After knocking on the door quite a few times in the first half, they have finally broken in at the 53rd minute and they have done so in spectacular fashion!}
{Their celebration reflects their boisterous emotions and I do not doubt that the Porto fans in their homes are jumping around along with them!}
{Some Benfica players seem to be arguing with the referee that the goal was offside, but the referee doesn’t seem to be paying them any attention and the goal still stands}
{It’s the first goal in the Taca de Portugal final and the one that breaks the deadlock!}
{Where do we go from here!?} The commentator’s commentary was top-notch and did well in helping the emotions of the Porto players and fans flare as they celebrated their goal.
On the sidelines, the Porto side celebrated with one another while the Benfica manager was shouting out orders to his players, trying to adjust his team’s game plan and aid them in finding an equalizer as soon as possible once the match resumed.The celebrations of the Porto players didn’t take long as there were no fans to celebrate with, but their excitement and happiness weren’t dampened by this fact and they headed back to their half of the field in an optimistic mood.
The match soon resumed with a kick-off by the Benfica team and they began passing the ball among themselves cleverly.
Going behind was a shock for them, but they refused to give up and this showed in their response to going behind.
They pushed hard against the Porto team and pressed them hard and soon found a goal-scoring chance just two minutes after going behind, but Goncalo Guedes somehow missed the goal by a few centimeters.
Seeing the sudden burst in attacking momentum by their opponents, the Porto team also increased their efforts and managed to push the Benfica team back for a few minutes, but Benfica was soon back and knocking on their goal with another attack.
#58th minute…
The Benfica team had just snatched the ball back from the Porto team in the middle of the field and they immediately launched an attack down the center of the field directly at the Porto 18-yard box.
Porto immediately launched a collective defensive press that blocked Benfica’s path down the middle and the ball ended up being sent to the left of Porto’s 18-yard box where Goncalo Guedes awaited.
After receiving the ball, he managed to hold on to the ball despite Wilson Manafa’s attempts at retrieving the ball and he finally sent a curling cross into Porto’s penalty box.
Players of both the Porto and Benfica teams jumped for the ball but somehow none of the Porto players were able to get to the ball and the ball found Carlos Vinicius in the air who didn’t disappoint and headed the ball downward at Porto’s goal.
Augustin dived for the ball, displaying surprising elasticity but he wasn’t able to reach and the ball flew past him before nestling into the back of the net bringing Benfica back on level terms with Porto.
{Goal!!!}
{What amazing powers of recovery!}
{It hasn’t taken them long! Benfica are level!}
{They haven’t given up yet on the silverware that is once again within their reach!}
{Porto are stunned!} The commentator’s flamboyant voice perfectly mirrored Benfica’s flamboyant return to equal terms.
The Benfica fans in their homes had their smiles appear back on their faces as their hopes were revived by seeing their team get back on level terms and they immediately began celebrating.
Carlos Vinicius and his teammates were also celebrating wildly at the thought of quickly getting back on leveling terms and a smile could be seen on the face of their manager on the sidelines as he watched his players celebrate.
Strangely, Sergio Conceicao on the side just stayed silent despite his team having lost their lead just five minutes after they had gained it. He didn’t even shout anything to his players.
He had done most of his shouting in the team locker room during the halftime break and he believed in his players.
He had watched the goal that had caused his team to lose the lead carefully and despite knowing that his team’s defenders had failed to clear the ball, he had also realized that the goal was almost impossible for his players to stop so there was no point in blaming his players.
All he could do for his team now was to adjust the game plan, make changes, and motivate his players, the rest was left to the players themselves.
As the Porto players headed back to their positions for the kick-off to resume the game, he shouted out words of encouragement to his players while clapping his hands.
The match once again kicked off with Porto in possession of the ball and immediately the match resumed, they didn’t waste any time passing the ball around in their half but instead began to advance into Benfica’s half of the field while exchanging the ball among themselves to avoid losing possession.
As if by a collective agreement to not retreat in the slightest, the Porto players began slowly advancing into the Benfica half of the field.
They lost the ball a few times in the process and were pushed back sometimes, but as soon as they regained possession, they immediately went back to trying to push the Benfica team farther back into their own half of the field.
However, the Benfica team refused to be pushed back despite the Porto team’s efforts so the Porto players changed tactics and changed their directives to trying to push through them instead of pushing at them.
This seemed to be the right course of action as a goal-scoring opportunity soon presented itself to Porto.