Benfica secures comeback victory against Santa Clara

Benfica, coached by Marco Silva, secured a 2-1 comeback victory against Santa Clara on Monday, October 26, during the ninth round of the Liga Portugal. After a poor performance in the first half, the team rallied behind striker Vangelis Pavlidis and midfielder Gianluca Prestianni to claim all three points.

Pavlidis scored the equalizer for the Lisbon-based club, marking his 17th goal in 17 appearances across all competitions this season. This goal, assisted by Prestianni, brings his league tally to nine, placing him at the top of the Primeira Liga scoring charts ahead of Sporting’s Suarez, who has eight. Prestianni added the decisive second goal shortly thereafter. Pavlidis has maintained an impressive scoring rate, averaging one goal every 71 minutes throughout his 1,195 minutes of play this season, which includes six goals in the Europa League qualifiers and two in the competition's league phase.

Following the weekend’s fixtures, other notable results in the ninth round included Porto's 1-0 win over Gil Vicente, Arouca’s 1-0 victory against Alverca, and Casa Pia defeating Estrela Amadora 2-0. The win strengthens Benfica's position as they continue their domestic and European campaign.