Benfica's volume finally told after Lech threatened a reply

Benfica beat Lech Poznan 3-1, with the result built on a steady stream of chances rather than a perfect performance. Benfica had 24 shots and forced eight saves, but Lech still found a way back into the match after the second goal. The difference was Benfica's ability to turn pressure into a third.

Rafa put Benfica ahead in the sixth minute, giving the home side an early reward for an attacking display that would keep building. Benfica finished with 24 shots, 11 on target and 18 from inside the box. Lech Poznan had only six attempts, yet five were on target, so Benfica's advantage in volume did not mean every moment was safe.

The score stayed 1-0 until Gianluca Prestianni finished Heorhii Sudakov's assist in the 67th minute. Lech answered through Erik Bengtsson five minutes later, turning a two-goal cushion into a live contest again. Benfica had made three changes at 62 minutes, and another at 69. Sudakov's goal in the 90th minute restored the two-goal margin and ended that uncertainty.

Rafa's sixth-minute goal gave Benfica a lead that lasted through half-time. The timeline records it as a normal goal and names no assister, so the clearest point is its effect: Benfica could press on from in front rather than chase the match. The hosts kept producing attempts, although the first goal did not lead to an immediate second.

The decisive burst came after the hour. Sudakov supplied Prestianni for the 67th-minute goal, a finish that made it 2-0; Bengtsson then scored for Lech Poznan in the 72nd minute, narrowing the gap before Benfica could settle. It was a sharp reminder that five shots on target from six attempts can carry danger even when chances are scarce. Sudakov, assisted by Enzo Barrenechea, made it 3-1 in the 90th minute. That final goal mattered beyond the scoreline: it stopped Lech's reply from defining the closing stretch.

Benfica's attack was busy by its own recent standards. Their 24 shots were their second-highest total across four matches compared, and their 18 shots from inside the box were also second-highest across those four. Eleven shots on target ranked second across seven matches compared. Those are strong signs of repeated access to dangerous areas, even if Benfica's two expected goals sat below their 2.24 average and ranked third across four.

Benfica had 56 per cent possession, below their 58.43 average and fifth across seven matches compared. Their six corners matched their average and ranked third across seven. That suggests the evening was not simply about keeping the ball; the shot volume did the heavier work. The cost came in the moments when Lech did reach goal: Benfica goalkeeper Anatolii Trubin made four saves, while Lech scored with one of its five shots on target. Benfica also committed 15 fouls, their highest total across seven matches compared. The late third goal settled the result, but the reply after 2-0 shows why the attacking edge did not make the performance flawless.

Lech Poznan's goalkeeper Mateusz Lis made eight saves, a substantial contribution in a match where Benfica put 11 shots on target. That kept the score within reach for long spells, and Lech's five shots on target from only six attempts showed that its limited attacks could still trouble Benfica. Bengtsson's goal after coming on gave that threat a tangible reward and cut the deficit to one.

The wider attacking numbers explain the difficulty Lech faced. Six total shots were their lowest across five matches compared, while five on target ranked sixth across eight. Three shots from inside the box ranked third across four, and their expected goals figure of 0.5 was third across three. That was well below their 1.25 average. Lech's 44 per cent possession was slightly above its 42.88 average, but control of the ball did not become enough attempts. Three corners ranked sixth across eight, while 11 fouls ranked sixth across eight. The goal gave Lech a moment of hope; the underlying scarcity of chances made that hope hard to sustain.

Heorhii Sudakov assisted Prestianni's goal and scored Benfica's third, adding four key passes to that direct impact. Rafa opened the scoring, while Prestianni's goal came after he replaced Rafa in the 62nd minute. Mateusz Lis rated 7.61, which was 0.70 above his own season average of 6.91. His eight saves were central to Lech staying in the match as long as it did.

Benfica's Anatolii Trubin rated 7.35, 0.58 below his own season average of 7.93, despite making four saves. Alessandro Circati rated 7.14, 0.35 above his 6.79 average; Tomás Araújo's 7.17 was 0.22 below his 7.39 average. For Lech, Mateusz Skrzypczak rated 6.46, well above his own 4.20 average by 2.26. In contrast, Jens Wålemark's 5.88 was 0.66 below his 6.54 average, and Antoni Kozubal's 5.50 was 0.74 below his 6.24 average. Bengtsson's goal mattered, but the supplied data gives no season rating to compare his display with his own baseline.

Expected goals put Benfica at 2 and Lech Poznan at 0.5, an expected margin of 1.5. The actual margin was two, so Benfica finished slightly ahead of what the chances suggested. The finishing gap is recorded as 1. The wider shot picture backs the direction of the result: Benfica had 24 attempts to Lech's six, and 18 of the hosts' shots came from inside the box compared with three for Lech.

The probability data also favoured Benfica, with a 0.731 home probability, against 0.187 for a draw and 0.082 for an away win. That points the same way as the expected-goals comparison: a Benfica victory was the likeliest outcome, and the shot volume makes it difficult to call the result lucky. Still, eight saves by Lis and Lech's goal after the second Benfica strike show why the match remained less comfortable than the final score alone might suggest. The evidence says deserved winners, with a margin a little kinder than the chances implied.

Benfica's performance offers a clear starting point: high shot volume, plenty of attempts from inside the box and goals from three different scorers. The question raised by the match is whether that pressure can be paired with greater security after taking a two-goal lead. Lech Poznan can take encouragement from Bengtsson's reply and Lis's saves, but its six shots and 0.5 expected goals point to a need for more sustained danger if it is to turn defensive resistance into points.

The supplied competition standings list Benfica second with nine points from three matches, while Lech Poznan are 32nd with one point from three. Those figures underline the different positions recorded for the teams, but this match also gives both sides specific measures to revisit. The next reading should focus less on the final score alone and more on whether Benfica keep creating from close range, whether Lech can produce more attempts, and how each responds when the score changes.

• Whether Benfica can sustain a high number of shots from inside the box.
• Whether Lech Poznan can lift its shot total above six and create more from inside the box.
• Whether Benfica can limit the openings that followed its second goal.