Haller scores twice, but only celebrates once
A little later, twice within a few minutes, a man was the center of attention who had been the center of attention very often recently, namely attacker Haller. First he appeared in his own penalty area at a Benfica corner and unluckily deflected a shot from Jan Vertonghen into his own goal to equalize.
Less than 180 seconds later, Haller scored again – and this time he also celebrated: Steven Berghuis put forward flat from the left, Haller completed the turn. Benfica goalkeeper Odisseas Vlachodimos made a save, but only going forward – the rest was easy practice for Haller, adding to an already impressive statistic.
In the seventh Champions League game this season, it was goal number eleven for Haller, no player has scored more often.
Haller almost scored another goal just before the break. After Edson Alvarez hit the left post with a low shot, the ball bounced right in front of Haller’s feet, but Haller didn’t expect it. Haller narrowly missed the empty goal, which doesn’t happen to him often.
Benfica demand a penalty but don’t get it
It got really exciting again in the second half of the second half. First they demanded a penalty from Benfica, but didn’t get one: Amsterdam’s Alvarez Goncalo Ramos hit the foot from a corner. Referee Slavko Vinčić replied – and allowed the ball to continue (67′).
Yoker Yaremchuk and the equalizer for Lisbon
When Benfica equalized shortly thereafter, Goncalo Ramos was involved again. Remco Pasveer parried his long-range shot, but forward and not very confidently. Lisbon’s joker Yaremchuk headed in from close range.
On March 15, both teams meet in Amsterdam for the second leg.