AC Milan 0-1 Benfica
Benfica beat Milan 1-0 at the Gillette Stadium tonight to make it three wins from three in the International Champions Cup.
A second half goal by Adel Taarabt was enough to see off the Italians in a well fought out game in which Marco Giampolo’s side hit the woodwork twice. But the Encarnados rode their luck to take all three points.
Benfica are flying the flag for Portugal amidst a plethora of the best teams in Europe and three wins is the best set of ICC 2019 results around.
For sure, Bruno Lage’s side have done themselves proud and have served a warning ahead of next season’s Champions League.
Highlights of the game
The Rossoneri had the better of an entertaining first half though Benfica had the first shot on goal. Rafa passed to Adel Taarabt and he set his sights from just outside the area but Gigi Donnarumma saved well in the bottom right corner.
Milan came within a whisker of scoring on 16 minutes when Hakan Calhanoglu collected the ball just outside the Benfica penalty area and rifled a shot towards the goal but it cannoned off the right hand post and to safety.
Attacking midfielder Suso has recently thanked former boss Gennaro Gattuso for teaching him the meaning of playing for Milan, and he looked right up for this game, buzzing around and creating chances for the Rossoneri. He crossed for Samu Castillejo who saw his shot saved in the bottom corner, and Benfica keeper Odisseas Vlachodimos saved well again when Fabio Borino fired a shot low towards his bottom right corner.
Suso fed Borini and Vlachodimos saved again from close range and then Suso himself took aim from distance only to see his shot fly narrowly wide.
Cahanoglu and top scorer Krzysztof Piatek combined well, each feeding the other for a chance but Vlachodimos was equal to their efforts.
Swiss hit man Haris Seferovic was on target in Benfica’s recent win over Fiorentina but he didn’t have a sniff in the first half against a well organised Milan defence, though Gabriel Pires did have a shot at goal just before the break but Donnarumma saved easily.
Benfica showed more ambition after the break and when Alejandro Grimaldo crossed and Pires headed Donnarumma saved well in the top right corner. Castillejo forced a save at the other end and then as the game swung from end to end Donnarumma did well to save from Pizzi on 69 minutes. But there was nothing he could do a minute later as Benfica went ahead.
The Portuguese had a corner and when Ferro headed it back into the path of Taarabt he fired his shot straight and true into the bottom left corner.
Suso tried to get Milan back into the game but his shot was easily saved and then, on 81 minutes he came very close when Lucas Biglia put him in but his shot flew narrowly wide. Then Biglia crashed a free kick against the bar and Milan began to realise this wasn’t their night.
Piatek came close with a header but Benfica finished the stronger to see the game out.
Key statistics
The ICC 2019 betting odds here at SBOBET had the Portuguese champions slightly the favourites to win at odds of 2.37, and in the end they deserved their win.
In the first half Milan had the better of the game with 54 per cent possession and nine shots to four, with four on target to Benfica’s one.
The Portuguese side was careful with the ball, with a high percentage of pass completion at 91 per cent while Milan too scored well at 89. By the end of the second half both had pass completion at over 88 per cent, but Benfica had made their point and won the shot count by 19 to 15 with eight to six on target.
And this win put Benfica head in the head to heads by two to one.
What’s next?
Next up the Rossoneri faces Manchester United and that won’t be easy. The Red Devils have had an unbeaten pre-season so far, and they too are hoping to make it three ICC wins from three.
Benfica has played its last game in this year’s International Champions Cup, and as the big European Leagues are ready to usher in the 2019/20 seasons they will expect to dominate the Portuguese league again.
And a Champions League run is certainly not out of the question on this form.
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