Benfica's late first-half burst set up a 4-1 win

Benfica beat GIL Vicente 4-1 in the Taça da Liga quarter-finals, with two goals in the final ten minutes of the first half creating the gap. Dodi Lukebakio scored either side of Heorhii Sudakov's goal, then added another after the break. GIL Vicente answered through Andreas Lausen, but Jhon Durán restored Benfica's three-goal lead.

The first goal did not arrive until the 36th minute. Samuel Dahl assisted Dodi Lukebakio, and four minutes later Benfica were further ahead through Heorhii Sudakov. That quick second goal meant GIL Vicente reached half-time two goals behind, and their response began with two changes at the interval: Andreas Lausen and Tidjany Touré came on.

Benfica extended the lead in the 54th minute when Lukebakio scored again. GIL Vicente replied two minutes later, with Lausen finishing a move assisted by Touré. The score was 3-1, so that goal gave the visitors a foothold without erasing the damage from the first-half burst. Benfica's fourth arrived in the 81st minute through Durán, assisted by Rafa. Espigares was sent off a minute later, after the decisive goal had already gone in.

Benfica's opener came from Dodi Lukebakio in the 36th minute, with Samuel Dahl credited with the assist. The goal broke the deadlock and was followed almost immediately by another. Heorhii Sudakov made it 2-0 in the 40th minute. The sequence gave Benfica a two-goal cushion before the interval, with GIL Vicente left to find a way back after the break.

Lukebakio's second, in the 54th minute, widened the gap again. GIL Vicente did not wait long to answer: Andreas Lausen scored in the 56th minute, assisted by Tidjany Touré, making the score 3-1. That response was followed by further changes from both teams, but Benfica supplied the next goal. Rafa assisted Jhon Durán in the 81st minute, and Benfica's fourth settled the final score at 4-1. Espigares's red card followed in the 82nd minute.

Benfica's strongest feature in the match was the way they turned the closing stages of the first half into a two-goal lead. Lukebakio scored in the 36th minute, then Sudakov followed in the 40th. Lukebakio struck again nine minutes into the second half, giving Benfica a third goal before GIL Vicente's reply. The sequence of scorers also meant the result did not depend on one player alone, even though Lukebakio supplied two of the goals.

The reply did show that Benfica did not keep GIL Vicente off the scoresheet. Lausen made it 3-1 in the 56th minute, only two minutes after Benfica's third. Benfica's fourth came through Durán in the 81st minute, with Rafa providing the assist, before Espigares was sent off. Benfica made their first changes at 72 minutes, with three substitutions at once, and added Rafa six minutes later. The final goal came after those changes, while the red card arrived after it; the scoreline was already 4-1 when Espigares left the field.

GIL Vicente had a difficult position to address at half-time, two goals behind, and made two changes before the second half began. Andreas Lausen and Tidjany Touré both came on. The move had an immediate return in the scoring: Lausen got GIL Vicente's goal in the 56th minute, with Touré assisting. That made it 3-1, and gave the visitors a response only two minutes after Benfica had scored again.

The difficulty was keeping that reply connected to another goal. GIL Vicente made two more changes at 63 minutes, bringing on Agustín Moreira and Walace, then used their final substitution at 80 minutes. Benfica scored their fourth a minute later. Espigares was sent off in the 82nd minute, after which the score remained 4-1. The listed results before this match included a 2-1 win, a 3-2 win and a 1-0 win for GIL Vicente, but here their single goal did not shift the result back within reach.

Dodi Lukebakio was the only player to score twice. His first goal opened the scoring, and his second made it 3-0. Heorhii Sudakov supplied Benfica's second goal, while Jhon Durán scored the fourth. Rafa assisted Durán after coming on for Claudio Echeverri in the 78th minute. Samuel Dahl assisted Lukebakio's opener, making his contribution part of the decisive first-half spell.

GIL Vicente's two half-time substitutes combined for the visitors' goal: Tidjany Touré assisted Andreas Lausen in the 56th minute. Lausen had come on for Guilherme, while Touré replaced Gil Pinto Martins. That was a clear return from the interval changes, even though it remained GIL Vicente's only goal. Benfica's three changes at 72 minutes included Fredrik Aursnes, Manu and Gianluca Prestianni. Durán then made way for Anisio Cabral in the 84th minute, after scoring Benfica's fourth.

The match events point to a win shaped by Benfica's goals at key moments. They scored twice in the closing stages of the first half, then added a third shortly after the restart. When GIL Vicente answered, Benfica scored again before the red card. That timing matters: Espigares's dismissal came in the 82nd minute, after Durán had made it 4-1, so it cannot explain the result's decisive margin.

GIL Vicente did have a meaningful response in Lausen's goal, and the assist from Touré showed the half-time changes involved in it. But Benfica's three goals after the interval were not all in reply to GIL Vicente: Lukebakio scored before Lausen, and Durán scored after. The available match events therefore favour Benfica's result as a product of their scoring sequence, rather than the late dismissal.

Benfica leave this quarter-final with four goals and contributions from several players, including Lukebakio, Sudakov and Durán. Their next match is not part of the information here, so the useful questions are about the patterns this game did show. Benfica's two goals before half-time set the terms; GIL Vicente's response came from the players introduced at the break; and Benfica's final goal came after their own changes.

For GIL Vicente, Lausen and Touré's quick link offered a positive detail amid a 4-1 defeat. The team also faced a two-goal deficit at half-time and finished with Espigares sent off. Those moments leave three clear points to watch in the next performances:

• Whether Benfica can again turn a late first-half spell into goals, as they did through Lukebakio and Sudakov.
• Whether GIL Vicente can build on the Lausen goal assisted by Touré after their half-time substitutions.
• How Benfica's changes affect the scoring, after Rafa assisted Durán for the fourth goal.