Lazio v Benfica (Aguiar) [R]

[mattbin]

Yes, Fernando did play--but unfortunately he is blamed in this article for the first goal.

Link is

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-championslazio&prov=reuters&type=lgns

Nervy Lazio overcome Benfica in Rome

ROME, August 13 (Reuters) - Goals from Bernardo Corradi, Stefano Fiore and Sinisa Mihajlovic gave Lazio an unlikely 3-1 win in the first leg of their Champions League third round qualifier against Benfica on Wednesday.

The Italian club looked edgy in the opening minutes and goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi was forced to dive to save long-range shots from Benfica midfielders Petit and Simao Sabrosa.

In the 16th minute, however, visiting defender Fernando Aguiar failed to chest a pass down cleanly and striker Corradi latched on to the loose ball, flicking it into the net from close range.

Midfielder Fiore doubled Lazio's lead seven minutes after the break with a simple finish after a Claudio Lopez run had split Benfica's defence. Defender Mihajlovic made it three with a curling free kick ten minutes from time.

Benfica winger Simao Sabrosa's deflected 64th-minute effort, however, means that the Portuguese club go into the second leg on August 27 with a valuable away goal.

Allez les Rouges,

M@

[matthew]

I watched the game and Fernando played all right. Not great, but okay. He definitely takes a big share of the blame for the first goal. He failed to get goal side of his mark on a free throw in the box. There was actually no one else really in the box, but Fernando recovered well, got goal side and between the man and the ball very quickly. He let it run to the keeper, but the keeper didn't come out for it (perhaps thought it would be a back pass?) and another Lazio player pounced on it to bury the chance. I think the keeper shares half the blame, but Aguiar should have never been wrong-sided that badly in the first place.

He nearly scored when he made a back post run and a deflected shot fell awkwardly to him nearly on the end line, he got a touch to put it toward the empty net, but Stam also touched it clear. He shot from well out at least twice, maybe three times and seemed a little overly ambitious doing so.

Once they went down Aguiar got forward to try to help the aerial game as they built up slowly along the ground. The midfielders didn't seem really eager to get Aguiar involved in the buildup in the middle so it made sense for him to venture forward.

It wasn't a great game for Aguiar, but just starting in that sort of game shows his quality. He kept Anders Andersson out of the starting 11 and was playing against freaking Lazio in the Champions League.

cheers,

matthew

Born in Canada. Live in Canada. Die in Canada.

[DJT]

quote:Originally posted by matthew

I watched the game and Fernando played all right. Not great, but okay. He definitely takes a big share of the blame for the first goal. He failed to get goal side of his mark on a free throw in the box. There was actually no one else really in the box, but Fernando recovered well, got goal side and between the man and the ball very quickly. He let it run to the keeper, but the keeper didn't come out for it (perhaps thought it would be a back pass?) and another Lazio player pounced on it to bury the chance. I think the keeper shares half the blame, but Aguiar should have never been wrong-sided that badly in the first place.

Geez that article got it all wrong. I've watched the replay over and over and I think the whole thing was just a horrible miscommunication between three Benfica players. You've described the roles of Aguiar and Moreira (the keeper), but there was also Argel (#3) who was standing right there watching the ball roll too slowly towards the keeper instead of clearing it. Actually there was even a defender covering Corradi who just stopped for some reason, letting him advance to the ball. So I'd say there were four Benfica players who could take some blame, and while Aguiar was one of them I don't think he was the worst (at least he was doing something by covering Lopez, meanwhile Argel just stood there). After the goal both Aguiar and Moreira raised their arms wondering what the heck everyone was doing. Prior to the game Benfica fans expressed lots of concern about their overall defence and it turns out their concern was warranted, particularly on that play and a few others.

Aguiar also got a yellow card about five minutes into the game when he jumped at Stankovic with his knees high.

Some side notes...

I'm relieved that Lazio cup-tied a bunch of key players (several were rumoured to be transferred before the deadline), pretty happy with the result, not terribly happy with Lazio's play (particularly in the first half), and really unhappy that Aguiar had to stand out in a negative way (but Benfica's goal came directly from a miscue by Stam --- even the best make mistakes).

Note that the second leg will be played at Boavista's stadium in Porto because Benfica's stadium is being renovated for Euro 2004. What I don't understand is why they won't use Sporting's stadium, which is at least in the same city! Regardless, revenge against the Portuguese will be completed! [}]