Benfica fought back twice to end Monaco’s four-game unbeaten run in the Champions League, securing a thrilling 3-2 victory with two dramatic late headers on Wednesday.
Monaco made an impressive start when Eliesse Ben Seghir put them ahead in the 13th minute, ghosting into the box to power Aleksandr Golovin’s cutback past Benfica’s goalkeeper following a brilliant counter-attack.
Benfica dominated possession after the early setback and came close to equalising in the 37th minute, but Angel Di Maria’s effort was brilliantly saved by Radoslaw Majecki, and a header from Nicolas Otamendi narrowly missed the target from the resulting corner.
In the second half, Monaco’s Breel Embolo struck the post, and that miss proved costly. Vangelis Pavlidis capitalised on a poor clearance from Monaco’s Caio Henrique to steal the ball and slot home an equaliser, leveling the match.
The drama continued as both teams saw goals ruled out for offside by VAR, and things took a further twist when Monaco’s Wilfried Singo was sent off for two yellow cards just before the hour mark.
Monaco regained the lead in the 67th minute when Soungoutou Magassa scored his first goal for the club, charging onto Christian Mawissa’s precise pass and driving the ball low into the corner of the net.
However, Benfica responded late. Di Maria delivered an exquisite cross for Arthur Cabral to score the equaliser in the 84th minute. Just four minutes later, Di Maria again provided the assist, this time for Zeki Amdouni, who headed home the winner to complete the comeback and secure all three points for Benfica.
