Benfica 2-0 Spartak Moscow: Cardozo double puts Portuguese back in contention

Jorge Jesus' decision to bring on Oscar Cardozo for Benfica at half-time put paid to Spartak Moscow's hopes of getting a point in this Champions League Group G match, as the 29-year-old struck twice in the second half to light up the Estadio da Luz and hand his side a deserved 2-0 victory.

Cardozo wasted no time in leaving his mark on the game after being introduced at the break, scoring two goals in quick succession, the first a powerful header from close range, and the second a well-taken half volley from 10 yards out.

Despite both teams being guilty of conceding a number of free kicks in the opening 10 minutes, the home side were clearly on top as the Spartak defence struggled to deal with the vibrant play of Ola John and Lorenzo Melgarejo playing on the left-hand side for Benfica.

Having started the match distinctly on the back foot, Spartak managed to fashion the first clear goalscoring opportunity in the 13th minute when Diniy ar Bilyaletdinov forced a smart low stop from Artur, after the Russia international had latched on to a brilliantly disguised reverse pass from Dmitriy Kombarov.

The Aguias continued to dominate possession despite that Bilyaletdinov chance, and very nearly took the lead in the 22nd minute only for Eduardo Salvio to blast a shot into the side netting after the ball fell invitingly to him inside the Spartak penalty area, as the away side failed to clear their lines following Artem Rebrov's diving save from Lima's curling effort.

The visitors' full-backs, Kirill Kombarov and Evgeniy Makeev were enduring an increasingly torrid time as the first half wore on, as Benfica looked to play the ball out to John on the left and Salvio on the right, whenever they could.

Rodrigo came within inches of making it 1-0 to the hosts in the 40th minute, but could only look on in anguish as his devilish free kick from the right flew just wide of Rebrov' s right-hand post with the Spartak goalkeeper well beaten.

Jorge Jesus made an attacking change at the break, bringing on Cardozo for Rodrigo, yet it was Spartak that came close to taking the lead early in the second half through Bilyaletdinov. The attacker wasted his second chance of the evening though, firing straight at Artur after some fine build-up play involving Ari and Dmitriy Kombarov.

After having one finely-taken effort ruled out for offside just minutes after being introduced, Cardozo then gave Benfica a legitimate 1-0 lead with a close-range header in the 55th minute. Melgarejo was instrumental as he ghosted into the box on the left, before lifting a perfect cross to the Paraguayan striker, who then headed the ball downwards past Rebrov and into the back of the net.

Spartak moved Evgeniy Makeev across from left-back to right-back after Kirill Kombarov was withdrawn following Cardozo's first goal, but this did l ittle to stem Benfica's potent attacking threat down that side of the pitch as Melgarejo and John continued to wreak havoc.

Jesus' decision to bring on Cardozo continued to prove to be an inspired choice as the attacker then struck the crossbar in the 66th minute with a firm header after connecting well with John's inviting corner from the left.

That same duo combined again just moments later to make it 2-0 to Benfica, with Cardozo adjusting his body well to meet John's bouncing cross with his left foot and divert the ball into the back of the net from 10 yards.

Spartak's evening went from bad to worse in the 76th minute as Nicolas Pareja was dismissed for an awful challenge on Cardozo inside the penalty area. However the striker's chance to complete his hat-trick eluded him as his firmly-struck spot-kick was tipped on to the crossbar brilliantly by Rebrov.

Cardozo had one final chance to make it three goals in 45 minutes late in the game, but after racing through on goal he poked an effort just wide of Rebrov's right-hand post under pressure from Juan Manuel Insaurralde.

Benfica's impressive victory this evening reignites their hopes of progressing from Group G, and increased their unbeaten run of home games against Russian opposition to six.

Anzhi Makhachkala - Liverpool Betting Preview: Expect Russian revenge on home turf

Liverpool may be struggling for form in the Premier League, having won just two of their opening 10 games, but they were deserved 1-0 winners against Anzhi Makhachkala in Group A of the Europa League two weeks ago.

Stewart Downing was on the scoresheet for the home side at Anfield and Brendan Rodgers men will know a win in the return fixture will all but ensure a place in the last 32 of the competition.

Liverpool are 61/20 (4.05) underdogs with Marathon Bet to make it six points from six against the Dagestan outfit though, perhaps owing partly to their testing trip to Stamford Bridge at the weekend.

The draw is available at 14/5 (3.80), and the visitors can be backed at 47/50 (1.94) in the double chance market.

Thats a distinct possibil ity if Anzhi offer up a repeat of their insipid display at Anfield or indeed the disappointing effort at Rubin Kazan last weekend that saw them concede twice inside 20 minutes.

But Dagestan is a tough place to go in more ways than one, and Guus Hiddinks side are a formidable opponent on their own turf as a record of 11 wins and a draw from 12 games this season would indicate.

With Liverpool having played their last seven matches in their home city (six at Anfield, one at Goodison Park), the trip could faze the players. Anzhi are 47/50 (1.94) with Marathon Bet to win.

But for the pick of the bets it is important to note that Anzhis real strength has shown late on in front of their own fans with Samuel Etoo producing a number of late winners.

Anzhi have scored in the second half in 10 consecutive home games and that can be backed at 33/50 (1.66) with Marathon Bet.

10 of Anzhis wins this season have also come to nil and that scenario can be tipped here at 53/20 (3.65).

But with Liverpool having scored in 11 of their last 12, thats a tough one to call the Reds are 12/25 (1.48) to score in this one.

So the value bet is for Anzhi to gain a measure of revenge for the result at Anfield and win by two clear goals here.

The Russian team have already won by that scoreline six times this season and it can be backed at a chunky 23/5 (5.60) with Marathon Bet.


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Adam Bate is a professional freelance journalist who specialises in football and betting. He is editor of GhostGoal which can be found here - you can also follow Adam on

Spalletti: Zenit can still qualify

Luciano Spalletti believes that Zenit St Petersburg can still reach the knockout stages of the Champions League.

The Russian champions dropped to last place in Group C following their 1-0 away loss against Anderlecht on Tuesday, but their coach has not given up hopes of making it to the next round just yet.

"We are in a tough position in the group now, but taking into account the result in Milan [a 1-1 draw with Malaga], we still have a chance. If we win the last two matches we might still qualify," Spalletti was quoted as saying on the official Uefa website.

"We did not perform to our best against Anderlecht. In the first half we were choosing the wrong time to press the opponents in defence.

"We were too slow and allowed our opponents to receive the ball between our defence and midfield. That caused us many problems."

Zenit have collected three points from four games, and are trailing second-placed AC Milan by two points.

Benfica - Spartak Moscow Preview: Eagles know European campaign hinges on home comforts

Jorge Jesus will be forced into make a couple of changes to his Benfica side as they prepare for the arrival of Spartak Moscowin a game that the home side must win in order to stand any realistic chance of progressing from Group G.

The Eagles warmed up for their Champions League clash with a routine victory over Vitoria de Guimaraes in the league but their 3-0 win came at a cost as Carlos Martins limped off just before half-time with a thigh problem.

That injury, doubled with Nemanja Matics suspension, leaves a void in Benficas midfield which could be filled by promising 18 year-old Andre Gomes who has impressed since making his debut in the Portuguese Cup last month.

The Portugal Under-19s starlet scored on his debut against Freamunde and netted in his first Primeira Liga start at Gil Vicente before being dismissed for a dangerous challenge at the weekend.

Luisinho is expected to continue at left-back in place of the injured Melgare jo who is still sidelined along with a host of key figures for the hosts including Pablo Aimar, Nolito and central defender Luisao, whose eight week ban expires later this month.

Meanwhile, Spartak Moscow strolled to a5-0 victory in their match against Krylya Sovetov at the weekend, their biggest away success in over a decade, but will find a much sterner test in prospect at Estadio Da Luz on Wednesday evening.

Juan Insaurralde and Artem Dzyuba are both back in contention for the visitors after serving a suspension and fighting off a cold respectively.

However, there is still no sign of Aiden McGeady returning to action after picking up a foot injury while on international duty for Republic of Ireland and he misses out along with long-term casualties Romulo,Sergei Parshivlyuk and Soslan Gatagov.

• Oscar Cardozo (pictured, right) is Benficas top scorer so far this season with s ix goals in six league appearances.

  

• Benfica have committed more fouls than any other team in the Champions League this season, impeding their opponents on no less than 52 occasions.

• The Aguias have never lost three European home matches on the spin in their history but are in danger of setting an unwanted record on Wednesday having lost to Chelsea and Barcelona in their two previous home encounters.

• Spartak Moscow have the joint worst defence in this years Champions League having leaked seven goals already. Only Manchester City, Dinamo Kiev and Nordsjlland have matched this.

• The capital club have got good memories of Lisbon, having claimed victories over Benficas neighbours Sporting in both their 2000-01 and 2006-07 campaigns.

• Spartak have announced they have reached an agreement with BK Hacken to sign forward Abdul Waris Majeed subject to a medical. The Ghanaian was the top scorer in the Allsvenskan this season scoring 23 times in 29 appearances.

Anzhi Makhachkala - Liverpool Preview: Visitors looking for second group win over Russians

Guus Hiddink has plenty of star talent at his disposal, with ex-Barcelona and Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto'o and former Premier League stars Chris Samba and Yuri Zhirkhov all expected to start this game.

Brendan Rodgers looks likely to rest most of his regular starters ahead of the Merseysiders' trip to south-west Russia, with the Northern Irishman bound to have half an eye on his side's Premier League clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Captain Steven Gerrard and star striker Luis Suarez are almost certain to be left out, whilst other first-choice players such as Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger and Joe Allen could be rested.

Fabio Borini (broken foot), Martin Kelly (knee) and Lucas (thigh) are all definitely out, whilst Pepe Reina and Glen Johnson (both hamstring) are unlikely to be rushed back for this game.

• Anzhi Mackhachkala were only formed in 1991, and bounced between the top two divisions in Russia until billionaire Suleyman Kerimov purchased the club in 2011.

• The Dagestan-based club are currently second in the Russian Premier League, but they have never won the title.

• Despite being one of the highest paid players in the world, Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o (right) is not Anzhi's leading goalscorer this season, that honour belongs to Ivory Coast frontman Lacina Traore.

• Liverpool are one of the three most successful clubs in the history of this competition. They have won the tournament three times, along with Italian pair Juventus and Inter Milan

• Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez has played a role in 10 of Liverpool's 13 goals this season.

• Reds midifielder Jonjo Shelvey jointly leads the goalscoring charts in this season's Europa League - he has three goals to his name.

Anderlecht 1-0 Zenit: Battling Belgians boost qualification hopes

A first-half goal from Dieumerci Mbokani was enough for Anderlecht to grab all three points against a lacklustreZenit side and keep their hopes of qualification for the knock-out rounds alive.

The Congo striker combined superbly with Sacha Kljestan before clipping the ball over Vyacheslav Malafeev to settle a tense match in Brussels, in which the Russian side struggled to create any chance of note in the absence of Brazil international Hulk.

Anderlecht surprisingly elected to leave Tom De Sutter on the bench despite his recent form in front of goal, with Mbokani starting as the lone striker in his stead.

Igor Denisov returned to the starting line-up for the hosts after he was welcomed back into the squad following his off-the-field disputes with the club, whilst Vlad imir Bystrov replaced Brazil forward Hulk in support of striker Aleksandr Kerzhakov.

Mbokani was presented with the first opening of the match after less than a minute, when Milan Jovanovic's cross was missed by Tomas Hubocan and slmost bounced kindly for the striker, but he was unable to bring it under control.

Nicolas Lombaerts then had Silvio Proto worried when his snap-shot from the edge of the area almost wrong-footed the keeper, before Sergey Semak fired over the bar from close range after a superb turn and cross from Bystrov.

Anderlecht looked the brighter side in the opening exchanges and, with just over a quarter of an hour gone, Mbokani justified his selection with a superbly-taken strike, linking up with Kljestan on the edge of the box and dinking it over Malafeev to notch his side's first in the competition this season.

Anderlec ht were playing with real confidence - Jovanovic forced Malafeev into a fingertip save before Behrang Safari's dangerous run and cross was cleared by Lombaerts.

Zenit began to get a foothold on the ball but were unable to make any real attacking headway, with Axel Witsel's booking for a clumsy challenge an embodiment of the frustration within the Russian ranks.

Luciano Spalletti brought on Danny at the break to spark some life into his attack, and the 29-year-old almost had an immediate impact when his dangerous free-kick fell to the feel of Axel Witsel, only for Proto to deny the Belgian with a smart save.

Dennis Praet, a lively presence throughout, provided Massimo Bruno with an opening which was snuffed out by Lombaerts, before some clever interplay between Safari and Lucas Biglia almost carved out a second for Anderlecht a moment later.

Chances were few and far between for much of the match, with Anderlecht all too often winnin g the battle in midfield to prevent the visitors from making any real headway in the final third while the centre-back duo of Kouyate and Bram Nuytinck were immense at the heart of the hosts' defence.

Anderlecht continued to look the more likely to score and substitute Oleksandr Iakovenko came close to doing just that with ten minutes to go, lashing the ball against the crossbar following Kanu's flick-on, with replays showing that only a crucial touch from Malafeev denied the winger a goal.

Kanu then lashed an effort from the edge of the area wide of the mark before a last-ditch tackle from Anyukov denied him a clear sight of goal inside the box following good work from Mbokani.

Zenit threw men forward late on but were unable to carve out a meaningful chance, and the hosts clung on for a deserved three points, heaping more pressure on Spalletti's already-burdened shoulders.

Hulk's sister returns home safely after kidnapping

The sister of Zenit St Petersburg striker Hulk has returned home safely after being kidnapped.

Angelica Aparecida Vieira was witnessed being taken at 14:00 local time in Campina Grande, Brazil on Monday, but on Tuesday, police confirmed the 22-year-old was back at her family home at around noon.

The sibling of the Brazil forward was in a car outside the restaurant where she works when she was taken. Her friend, Helio Pereira da Silva, was with her at the time and said that the vehicle was left on the spot during the crime.

Hulk - who is currently out injured for approximately another two weeks - was advised by local police not to travel back to South America from Brazil, and his media representatives confirmed this would be the case.

The former Porto star's family did not make any statements during Ms Vieira's absence.