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MOTD- Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Benfica

By on March 13, 2014

Just the fact that Benfica manager Jorge Jesus managed to taunt his counterpart at Tottenham Hotspur, Tim Sherwood, to the point where Sherwood nearly started a physical fight proves that the visitors at White Hart Lane had frustrated Tottenham beyond belief.  It wasn’t like Benfica, current leaders of Portugal’s top division and Europa League finalists last year were a side Spurs should be have beaten, but the extent of that which Benfica sustained an offensively stacked side was mind boggling.  The home side had only five shots over the entire ninety minutes, leading Sherwood to the point where he had a go at Benfica manager Jesus after the Portugese manager taunted him after Benfica’s third goal.

“I thought his team were very good and showed a lot of class. It’s just a shame … [their manager did not].  In the first two minutes he was going over to the fourth official saying I was stepping in his box. He doesn’t mind himself, does he, to be fair. Waving goodbye like that [with three fingers]? It lacks class. Why would anyone do that? He’s got a good side, of course he has but [he is] not for me, thank you. I have no intention of speaking to him.” – Spurs manager Tim Sherwood

While Sherwood had no right to be infuriated as much as he was in the incident, the British manger was not alone in being frustrated. His side had gone behind on home turf a little over a half hour prior to the incident when Rodrigo put Benfica in front a little under a half hour into the tie, watching on as the forward curled a low shot in off the base of the post after finding himself slipped in down the right by Ruben Amorim’s through ball. It was only to have gotten worse for Tottenham, who had failed to capitalize on a golden chance to equalize as Emmanuel Adebayor dragged a horrendous shot wide of the post from fifteen yards, when Benfica doubled their lead right before the hour mark. Luisao nicked ahead of his marker on a Benfica corner from the left, before rising up to flick a header into the ground and then past a falling Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris into the back of the net.

Tottenham would pull one back as Christian Eriksen curled a magnificent free-kick into the top left corner from twenty-two yards, but Benfica made sure to put the game to bed soon after. It was once again Luisao who converted the final effort, with the Brazilian center-back pouncing on a low save from Lloris from a Benfica player’s header off of a free-kick on the left to slam a volley above the French goalkeeper into the roof of the net. That goal was enough to help send Sherwood into his frenzy, another factor which will make up for an interesting, and at the same time daunting, second leg for Tottenham in the Europa League Round of 16.
Man of the Match: Luisao

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.