Benfica off and running

Benfica kicked their UEFA Champions League campaign off with a 2-0 win over Hapoel Tel-Aviv on Tuesday.

Portuguese champions prove too strong for new-boys in Lisbon

Benfica kicked their UEFA Champions League campaign off with a 2-0 win over Hapoel Tel-Aviv at the Estadio da Luz. Goals from Luisao and Oscar Cardozo ensured the Portuguese champions gave their qualification hopes from Group B the best possible start in a difficult pot that also contains Lyon and Schalke. Hapoel, appearing at this stage of the competition for the first time in their history, gave an excellent account on their debut and were unfortunate not to win at least one penalty, after having three strong appeals turned down. But it was Jorge Jesus' side, with Argentine midfielder Pablo Aimar starring, who snatched maximum points in what proved to be a scruffy clash in Lisbon. Benfica suffered their worst start to a top-flight campaign in 58 years heading into Tuesday's clash but they made a bright start to the game as David Luiz flashed a shot wide in the sixth minute. Hapoel were unlucky not to be given a penalty in the 15th minute when former Chelsea forward Ben Sahar was pulled back by Luisao inside the penalty area right in front of the additional assistant, who waved away Saha's appeals.

Cultured

And after being let off the hook down one end, Benfica captain Luisao opened the scoring in the 21st minute with a cultured finish from Jorge Carlos Martin's cross after keeping alive a poor corner. Hapoel's Etey Shechter had been hailed as the visitor's biggest threat in Lisbon before the match but the striker was the first player to go into Aleksei Nikolayev's book after being penalised for diving in the box a minute after the goal. But the away side continued to search for an equaliser and Benfica goalkeeper Roberto was giving the Israelis optimism as he first struggled to deal with Gil Vermouth's cross before being forced to tip over Dani Bondarv's 36th minute long-range effort. Opposing shot-stopper Vincent Enyeama was looking much better between the sticks and made a superb fingertip save three minutes later to deny Carlos Martins' low drive. The second half saw Hapoel show renewed fight to get back on level terms and they were dominating possession without creating clear-cut chances as Benfica looked increasingly nervous trying to protect their one-goal lead.

Punished

And the visitor's failure to use their territorial advantage was punished in the 69th minute as Cardozo - who was the subject of heckling from the home fans - gave Benfica the second goal they had been craving. The Paraguay international's first goal in the Champions League could not have been simpler as he tucked away a tap-in after substitute Maxi Pereira's shot from Ruben Amorim's pass diverted straight into the front-man's path. Both teams utilised all of their substitutes and it was Hapoel's first new face Toto Tamuz who nearly gave the visitors the goal they deserved in the 86th minute. Tamuz managed to turn in his marker on the edge of the area before unleashing a ferocious shot which had Roberto well beaten, but the forward's piledriver struck the bar to deny a barnstorming finish to the clash. Benfica may have taken the spoils, but Jesus' side will have to defend much better on home soil if they are to get similar results against the likes of Lyon and Schalke.

Benfica	Team Statistics	Hapoel Tel Aviv
2	Goals	0
1	1st Half Goals	0
10	Shots on Target	2
9	Shots off Target	4
2	Blocked Shots	2
6	Corners	3
14	Fouls	13
3	Offsides	7
0	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
79.9	Passing Success	81.2
21	Tackles	30
81	Tackles Success	76.7
46.3	Possession	53.7
57.8	Territorial Advantage	42.2