Very important victory!
I'm very glad our team delivered today. Although we didn't have a spectacular game, the team was very determined and organized. It was also great seeing the crowd finally supporting the team throughout the full game.
Great, great Mantorras! He definitely deserves all the compliments and success in the world! Very good note to our defence too, that was very solid, as gladly they've been in the last few games. João Pereira also deserves a mention... So many times criticized and underrated, he's showing in the last games that he is a good player, that has an enormous fighting spirit. He brought a lot of speed, irreverence and objectivity to the team whe he entered, and his assist to Miguel in the 2nd goal was fantastic.
There's still a lot to play for and everything's still open. But at least so far we're in the right path... I hope we can keep it up!
Finally, to all the extremists Anti-Benfiquistas that come here to say how Benfica is helped by the referees, what do you say about the penalty for Benfica that wasn't signaled yesterday? The Benfiquista newspaper "O Jogo" is clear about this:
"40'
Grande penalidade por assinalar por falta sobre Karadas?
Jorge Coroado - Em disputa de bola, Karadas é empurrado pelo adversário na grande área. Embora tratando-se de jogada rápida e de difícil visão para o árbitro, ficou por assinalar uma grande penalidade a favor do Benfica. (mão para baixo)
Soares Dias - Decisão trocada. Karadas é de facto empurrado pelo jogador do Gil Vicente. Deveria ter sido assinalada grande penalidade. (mão para baixo)
Rosa Santos - Deveria ter sido assinalada grande penalidade a favor do Benfica, uma vez que Karadas é derrubado na grande área. (mão para baixo)
António Rola - Jogador do Gil Vicente empurrou Karadas na grande área, havendo motivo para assinalar grande penalidade. (mão para baixo)"