VILA DO CONDE. Benfica tops Rio Ave 1-0 after G. Ramos scored just 1 goal (46′).

The match was played at the Estádio do Rio Ave Futebol Clube stadium in Vila do Conde on Sunday and it started at 6:00 pm local time. The referee was Rui Manuel Gomes Costa with the help of João Alexandre Bessa Silva and José Carlos Silva Martins. The 4th official was Rui Miguel Gomes Lima. The weather was clear. The temperature was pleasant at 15.3 degrees Celsius or 59.47 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 67%.​

Match Statistics​

Ball possession

The ball possession was not so different. Rio Ave was in possession of the ball for 48% of the time vs. Benfica that controlled the ball for 52% of the time.

Attitude and shots

Benfica was more aggressive with 65 dangerous attacks and 12 shots of which 5 were on target. This is one of the reasons why Benfica won the contest.​

Rio Ave shot 10 times, 4 on target, 5 off target. On the opposite side, Benfica shot 12 times, 5 on target, 5 off target.

Cards

Rio Ave received 3 yellow cards (Patrick William, Hernâni and André Pereira ). On the other side, Benfica received 3 yellow cards (João Mário, Gonçalo Ramos and Odysseas Vlachodimos).

Standings

After this match, Rio Ave will stay with 33 points like Famalicão to sit in the 9th place. Regarding the opposition, Benfica will have 71 points to sit in the 1st place.

Next matches

In the next match in the Liga Portugal, Rio Ave will play away with Portimonense on the 8th of April with a 8-2 head to head stats in favor of Rio Ave (2 draws).

Benfica will host Porto on the 7th of April with a 20-10 head to head in favor of Porto (11 draws).

Rio Ave – Formation

Rio Ave started with an extremely aggressive line-up (3-4-3).

The manager Luís Carlos Batalha Freire decided to play with the following team: Jhonatan (7.0), Renato Pantalon (6.7), Aderllan Santos (7.1), Patrick William (7.1), Costinha (6.9), Andreas Samaris (6.8), Gonçalo Rodrigues (7.5), Fábio Ronaldo (6.3), João Graça (6.7), André Pereira (6.6) and Emmanuel Boateng (6.7).

The home team had on the bench: Vítor Gomes (6.8), Audenirton Soares da Silva, Josué Humberto Gonçalves Leal Sá, Sávio, Hernâni, Miguel Baeza Pérez, Paulo Vitor, Bruno Ventura (6.4) and Andre Filipe Alves Monteiro.

Substitutions

Rio Ave made 5 changes: João Graça for Bruno Santos Ventura (64′), Andreas Samaris for Vitor Gomes (64′), Emmanuel Boateng for Hernâni (80′), Patrick William for Savio (81′) and Costinha for Paulo Vitor (81′).

Best player: Gonçalo Rodrigues​

The most impressive player for Rio Ave was Gonçalo Rodrigues.

His rating is (7.5) with 45 passes (91% accurate) and 2 key passes. He was won 7 duels out of 11. He performed 3 crosses.

Benfica – Formation

Benfica started with a 4-2-3-1 line-up (4-2-3-1).

Roger Schmidt played with: Odysseas Vlachodimos (7.1), Alexander Bah (7.8), António Silva (7.1), Nicolás Otamendi (7.1), Alejandro Grimaldo (7.2), Chiquinho (7.8), Fredrik Aursnes (7.2), João Mário (7.0), Rafa Silva (6.7), David Neres (6.7) and Gonçalo Ramos (7.6).

They had on the bench: Lucas Verissimo da Silva, Felipe Rodrigues, Petar Musa (6.4), Samuel Jumpe Soares, Andreas Schjelderup, João Pedro Gonçalves Neves, Florentino Luís (6.2), Gilberto Moraes Junior and Casper Tengstedt.

Substitutions

Benfica made 3 changes: Gonçalo Ramos for Petar Musa (71′), David Neres  for Florentino Luís (71′) and Rafa Silva for Casper Tengstedt (80′).

Best player: Chiquinho​

Following our analysis, the most impressive player for Benfica was Chiquinho even if he didn’t score the decisive goal.

His rating is (7.8) with 69 passes (92% accurate) and 2 key passes. He was won 10 duels out of 14. He performed 5 crosses.

Results of the day

These are the results of the day in the Liga Portugal.​

• Chaves – Sporting Braga – 1-2
• Rio Ave – Benfica – 0-1
• Porto – Portimonense – 1-0
• Marítimo – Boavista – 4-2