yardımcı hakemler: norbert schwab (aut), klaus strasser (aut)
4. hakem: thomas prammer (aut)
çizgi hakemleri: bernhard brugger (aut), dietmar drabek (aut)
bate: sergei veremko (gk), dmitri likhtarovich (c) (dk. 61 maksim skavysh), sergei sosnovski, aleksandr yurevich, aleksandr volodko, sergei krivets, pavel nekhaychik, artem radkov, aleksandr pavlov (dk. 56 aleksandr alumona), maksim bordachev, vitali rodionov (dk. 79 hovhannes goharyan)
yedekler: aleksandr gutor (gk), vitali bulyga, dmitri baga, vladimir rzhevski
teknik direktör: viktor goncharenko (blr)
benfica: júlio césar (gk), javi garcía, óscar cardozo, ramires, maxi pereira (dk. 90+2 rúben amorim), fábio coentrão (dk. 79 ángel di maría), david luiz (c), felipe menezes, césar peixoto, miguel vítor, javier saviola (dk. 67 pablo aimar)
published: wednesday 2 december 2009, 22.45cet fc bate borisov 1-2 sl benfica
the portuguese side secured qualification and guaranteed top spot in group ı while ending their belarussian hosts' hopes of progress.
sl benfica secured progress to the knockout stages as group ı winners with a game to spare thanks to a 2-1 victory at fc bate borisov that ended their belarussian hosts' own last-32 aspirations.
saviola opener after a scoreless first half, javier saviola punctured the home side's resistance within a minute of the restart. fábio coentrão's composed strike extended the advantage and ensured benfica went through, with everton second in the group, though miguel vítor's 68th-minute own goal set up a tense finish.
krivets influence óscar cardozo had the first opening in the 15th minute but failed to connect adequately while the hosts' initial chance came to nothing when sergei sosnovski's looping header from a sergei krivets free-kick dropped wide. krivets's next set-piece was more threatening as he struck the crossbar from 20 metres with maksim bordachov firing a presentable follow-up into the side-netting.
flowing move the second half, in contrast to the first, commenced in spectacular fashion with a wonderful opening goal. the move of the match began with coentrão's back-heel releasing felipe menezes and the midfielder burst to the byline before cutting back for saviola to sweep in. the link between krivets' free-kick and sosnovski nearly prompted an immediate response only for the defender to forget his lines with only goalkeeper júlio césar to beat.
successful combination coentrão turned from architect to assassin on 63 minutes when he exchanged passes with saviola and drilled a clinical finish across sergei veremko to give the eagles breathing space. that buffer proved vital as viktor goncharenko's charges replied five minutes later. ıt proved to be third time lucky for the krivets-sosnovski combination as the former's deep corner was headed back across goal by the defender and miguel vítor unwittingly headed past his own keeper. jorge jesus's men, however, rarely looked like squandering their lead.
