After five games without a win, and several of these without even a goal, Benfica gets a very important 2 to 1 win at Leiria. Its not that Leiria is a very good team, its not even that Benfica played a very good game, but it´s none the less a very important win. Benfica actually started the game losing with an early goal from Leiria at the 2 minute mark, so this was also an important win for that reason.

Camacho started a different team than usual. He started the game with two forwards, Cardozo and Nuno Gomes, and left Angel Di Maria on the bench. Maxi Pereira also started on the right side of the defense for the injured Nelson. Binya was also a starter with Karagounis by his side.

Nuno Gomes was the player of the game with two goals. It had been two years since he scored two goals in one game. He is clearly a better player with another forward by his side, but I don´t know if sacrificing Di Maria is a good long term solution. Cristian Rodríguez also played a good game and it´s hard to imagine leaving him out of the starting line-up.

Karagounis was another one who played well. He is going thru a good moment and the only thing missing has been a goal in the last couple of games. EdCarlos continues to impress on”D” and Camacho is going to have somewhat of a “problem” picking between him and David Luiz as soon as he returns from his injury.

While this win at Leiria will take some of the pressure of the team, the problems are still there. Leiria is not a good team, and is the second or third from the bottom of the standings in the Portuguese League, but it´s a step in the right direction. It was a win, a come from behind win, and we scored two goals. I will take this any day!

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