Spartak Moscow 2 - 1 Benfica: Russians get off mark thanks to own goal

Published on 24/10/2012 01:28

AN OWN goal by Benfica defender Jardel earned Spartak Moscow their first points in this season’s Champions League with a hard-fought win in Group G.

Spartak Moscow: Carioca (2), Jardel (43 og)

Benfica: Lima (32)

Att: 30,000

The winner came two minutes before the break when Jardel, under pressure from Spartak striker Ari, redirected the ball into his own net from a Yevgeny Makeyev cross.

The Russians, who had lost 3-2 at home to Celtic in their previous Champions League match, caught the visitors cold on a chilly Moscow night after just two minutes when Rafael Carioca slotted the ball into the far corner following a quick counter-attack.

Lima equalised 30 minutes later with a strong header at the near post past Spartak’s third-choice goalkeeper Artem 
Rebrov, scoring Benfica’s first goal in the group stage.

Spartak, forced to rely on 
Rebrov, who was making his European debut after injuries had ruled out their two regular keepers, Andriy Dykan and Sergei Pesyakov, went ahead again thanks to Jardel’s unfortunate intervention.

The match, however, was marred by trouble after the final whistle, involving players from both sides, before English referee Mark Clattenburg was able to restore some order.

The win lifted Spartak two points above their Portuguese opponents into third place after three games. “It was a must-win game for us, we just couldn’t afford to lose again,” Spartak captain Dmitry Kombarov said. “Playing in front of our fans we also had to pay them back for the two previous defeats.”

Spartak’s Spanish coach Unai Emery, under heavy pressure following three consecutive defeats in domestic and European competition, was elated with his team’s performance.

“I’m very happy, not just because we won tonight but how we played for most of the match,” he said.

Spartak had also led 2-1 against Barcelona and Celtic before losing their opening group games by the same 3-2 scoreline, but they were able to hold on to their advantage this time round.

Ari could have made it 3-1 shortly after the restart with a clever backheel from close range following a Jano Ananidze pass.

At the other end, Eduardo Salvio missed a great chance for Benfica with the goal at his mercy 20 minutes from time after a bad defensive error from Makeyev, and Lima blasted over the bar from a good position a few minutes later.

Spartak, missing several key players through injury, illness and suspension in addition to Dykan and Pesyakov, then withstood a furious Benfica rally.

Benfica coach Jorge Jesus blamed Moscow’s artificial turf for the first goal, saying his team must improve in order to have a chance to reach the knockout round. “Our next two matches are in Lisbon and we need to win them both,” he said. “Here, we had a lot of bad passes at the start because we’re not used to playing on a synthetic pitch.”

Spartak Moscow: Rebrov, Makeev, Pareja, Suchy, D Kombarov, Rafael Carioca, Kallstrom (Bryzgalov 79), Jurado, Ananidze (K Kombarov 57), Bilyaletdinov (Welliton 73), Ari. Subs not used: Dykan, Mahmudov, Dzjuba, Obukhov.

Benfica: Artur Moraes, Maxi Pereira, Jardel, Garay, Melgarejo, Perez, Matic (John 89), Salvio, Lima, Rodrigo (Cardozo 64), Bruno Cesar (Gaitan 65). Subs not used: Paulo Lopes, Miguel Vitor, Almeida, Gomes.