Cardozo free-kick gives Benfica advantage
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Benfica will take a slight advantage into the second leg of their all-Portuguese Europa League semi-final following a deserved victory over Braga at the Estadio da Luz.
For the first time in history, two Portuguese teams faced themselves in a UEFA competition. With no chances in the Portuguese championship and after losing the Portuguese Cup semifinal to Porto, Benfica's chance to save the season is the UEFA Europa League. For Braga it was the first time the team reached a European semifinal.
After a tense first part, in the fourth minute of the second half, the defender Jardel scored. In a crossing from the right, Cardoso's header hit the post and in the rebound Brazilian player Jardel shot the first goal of the match. Three minutes later, after a free kick another Braga's Brazilian player Vandinho scored the equalizer with a header.
In the 59th minute, Paraguayan player Cardozo scored the second goal, in a free kick five meters out of the box.
Benfica had more ball possession and better opportunities to score more goals, but the team's players failed the final kick. After two balls hit the post, the 2-1 advantage seemed short for the strong second part Benfica played.
