LISBOA. Benfica beats Rio Ave 4-2. Benfica was vastly better in terms of ball possession (66%) and that was among the factors of its victory.​

The match was played at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica stadium in Lisboa on Saturday and it started at 6:00 pm local time. The referee was Manuel António Rodrigues Oliveira with the assistance of Carlos Campos and Hugo Daniel Tavares dos Santos. The 4th official was Anzhony Francisco Gonçalves Rodrigues. The weather was cloudy. The temperature was pleasant at 22.6 degrees Celsius or 72.66 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 65%.​

Match Statistics​

Ball possession

Benfica had a strong ball possession 66% while Rio Ave was struggling with a 34% ball possession.

Attitude and shots

Benfica was putting more pressure with 65 dangerous attacks and 31 shots of which 14 were on target. This is one of the reasons why Benfica won the match​.

Benfica shot 31 times, 14 on target, 17 off target. On the other side, Rio Ave shot 8 times, 3 on target, 5 off target.

Cards

Benfica received 1 yellow card (P. Musa). Regarding the opposition, Rio Ave received 2 yellow cards (Costinha and P. Amaral).

Standings

After this match, Benfica will have 25 points to remain in the 1st place. On the other side, Rio Ave will stay with 9 points like Chaves, Gil Vicente and Arouca to sit in the 11th place.

Next matches

In the next match in the Liga Portugal, Benfica will host Chaves on the 29th of October with a 5-0 head to head statistic in favor of Benfica (1 draw).

Rio Ave will play away agasint Casa Pia on the 30th of October with a 0-0 head to head record.

Benfica – Formation

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

The manager Roger Schmidt decided to play with the following team: Odysseas Vlachodimos (6.1), Gilberto (7.4), António Silva (7.1), Nicolás Otamendi (7.3), Mihailo Ristić (7.1), Fredrik Aursnes (7.3), Enzo Fernández (8.9), João Mário (8.2), Julian Draxler (7.0), Diogo Gonçalves (7.1) and Gonçalo Ramos (9.2).

The home team had on the bench: Alejandro Grimaldo, Florentino Luís (6.7), John Brooks, Petar Musa (7.1), Helton Leite, Alexander Bah, David Neres, Rodrigo Pinho (6.7) and Rafa Silva.

Substitutions

Benfica made 3 changes: G. Ramos for P. Musa (46′), E. Fernandez for Florentino (46′) and Joao Mario for R. Pinho (71′).

Best player: Gonçalo Ramos​

As per our analysis, the most impressive player for Benfica was Gonçalo Ramos.

His rating is (9.2) with 2 goals, 13 passes (69% accurate) and 1 key pass. He was won 4 duels out of 4.

Rio Ave – Formation

Rio Ave started with a 3-5-2 line-up (3-5-2).

Luís Carlos Batalha Freire played with: Jhonatan (6.6), Josué Sá (6.8), Aderllan Santos (6.1), Patrick William (6.2), Costinha (6.7), Miguel Baeza (5.8), Andreas Samaris (6.6), Gonçalo Rodrigues (6.9), Pedro Amaral (6.1), Aziz (6.6) and Fábio Ronaldo (6.7).

The following players were sitting on the bench: Leonardo Ruiz (6.4), Vítor Gomes (6.8), João Graça, Ukra (6.8), Magrão, Hernâni (6.6), Miguel Nóbrega (6.5), Amine Oudrhiri and Paulo Vitor.

Substitutions

Rio Ave made 5 changes: M. Baeza for Ukra (55′), Fabio Ronaldo for L. Ruiz (67′), A. Samaris for V. Gomes (67′), Aziz for Hernani (76′) and P. William for M. Nobrega (75′).

Best player: Gonçalo Rodrigues​

The player that probably impressed the most for Rio Ave was Gonçalo Rodrigues.

His rating is (6.9) with 1 goal, 34 passes (91% accurate) and 2 key passes. He was won 3 duels out of 10. He performed 1 cross.

Results of the day

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

• Benfica – Rio Ave – 4-2
• Santa Clara – Sporting CP – 1-2
• Paços de Ferreira – Vitória SC – 0-1
• Portimonense – Porto – 0-2