SL Benfica beat Naval 3 to 0 yesterday playing in Stadium of Luz. The win wasn´t as easy as the score might lead you to believe, and Naval could have, and should have scored a goal. This was the second consecutive 3 to 0 win in Portuguese league play, and shows that Benfica is finally awakening.

Aside from the win itself, and the three goals, Benfica has a solid showing from players like Di Maria, Nuno Gomes (had one goal), Katsouranis and the goalie Quim. But the best player on the field was unquestionably Rui Costa, who along with the great passing game still had time to score an extraordinary goal. Add to this his presence on the field, where he is clearly the leader, and you have a Rui Costa in top shape playing like he is 21 again.

With this win Benfica kept pace with both Porto and Sporting, who also won this weekend. The only (big) negative from this game was Petit´s injury. Petit is believed to have twisted ligaments in his knee and will not be available for at least the next three games. This is going to be a problem for the AC Milan game on Tuesday. Petit is a very influential player at midfield, and Benfica doesn´t have anyone that can sub in for him at his level. Katsouranis, his partner at mid-field, is still helping out on “D” where Benfica has had all kinds of injury problems. If Benfica was going to have a very hard time playing in San Siro, it just got all that much worse…

Here are the highlights of the game, including Rui Costa´s goal.