Lisbon giants hit struggling visitors for six in the capital.
There was no stopping Benfica’s recent good form this weekend as they thrashed Rio Ave 6-1 to maintain their slender four-point lead over arch-rivals FC Porto at the top of the Portuguese table.
The home side raced out of the blocks at the Estadio da Luz, taking an 11th minute lead through defender Lorenzo Melgarejo, before Nemanja Matic’s thumping header made it 2-0 just four minutes later.
And, when front man Lima netted just before the break, the match was all over bar the shouting, especially when the same player scored a wonder goal moments after the break.
However, despite the visitors managing to pull one back through Ahmed Hassan, it proved to be just a consolation as the Lisbon giants took advantage of Rio Ave being reduced to nine men to score twice more through Lima’s third and then a sixth goal from Enzo Perez.
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