benfica up and running as talisca sinks monaco published: tuesday 4 november 2014, 23.00cet sl benfica 1-0 as monaco fc the visitors conceded their first goal in group c as jorge jesus's men reignited qualification hopes with a maiden victory in the section.
by david crossan from estádio do sport lisboa e benfica
• late talisca goal hands benfica first win in group c • 2003/04 finalists monaco suffer first defeat in section • eagles move within point of second-placed french club • monaco no1 danijel subašić concedes for first time in this season's competition • next games: zenit v benfica, leverkusen v monaco (26 november)
in-form talisca scored a vital 82nd-minute goal as sl benfica beat as monaco fc to revive their uefa champions league qualification prospects.
that benfica recorded their first win in group c – as they bid to make it out of the group stage for the first time in three attempts – was down to the brazilian forward turning the ball in late on, confirming his fine run in front of goal comprising scoring in four straight league games for portugal's liga leaders. until the 20-year-old's intervention, benfica had been frustrated by a resolute monaco display and with the pacy yannick ferreira-carrasco always a threat for leonardo jardim's men, the visitors had looked more than capable of leaving with something.
the hosts made the running in the early stages, but benfica were too often let down by a lack of a precision in the final third. five minutes in, eduardo salvio fired well wide when presented with a fine chance by a lovely talisca release. monaco soaked up the pressure and began to show more in an attacking sense, lucas ocampos having a 25th-minute attempt blocked. benfica enjoyed by far the biggest opening of the half just before the teams went in for the interval and only a heroic andrea raggi block prevented nicolás gaitán giving them the lead with a left-foot shot.
monaco started the second half brightly and layvin kurzawa ghosted into the box before heading a fabinho cross wide. danijel subašić – yet to concede in 270 minutes of group c action until today – made his first real stop of note in the 53rd minute when he athletically flung himself upwards to his right as talisca bent one towards the top corner. ferreira-carrasco had been a thorn in benfica's side all night and the quicksilver winger almost scored a dazzling solo goal on the hour, repelled only by a fine júlio césar save at the near post.
with a single point from their first three fixtures, the eagles had no option but to push for the three points and forward lima almost made an instant impact after coming on for midfielder andreas samaris, having a strike deflected for a corner. the same man headed off target under pressure from ricardo carvalho as benfica continued to press. it appeared it would be a fruitless pursuit until the unmarked talisca popped up at the back post to sweep in following derley's flick-on of a nicolás gaitán corner.
