Instead, the home side, backed by a fervent support inside the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, were well worth their victory in Istanbul.Few sightings of goal were forthcoming as the teams sized each other up in a competitive opening, before Fenerbahce's attacking play began to match the ferocity of their support.And the midfielder was instrumental as Fenerbahce pressed for the opener. His vicious 20-yard shot was helped wide by a scrambling Artur, before the goalkeeper had to be alert again as Raul Meireles thumped low towards his bottom corner.Whether their slender advantage will be enough for them to become the first Turkish team to reach a European final since Galatasaray in the 2000 Uefa Cup remains to be seen.Benfica were without influential skipper Luisao because of a thigh injury and they were missing the Brazilian centre-back's aerial prowess as an unmarked Sow headed Kuyt's right-wing cross against the crossbar.Benfica have a formidable home record, having lost only to Barcelona at the Estadio da Luz this season, and will be confident of overturning their deficit in the return leg on 2 May.Regular penalty-taker Cristian was given the task of punishing the Portuguese, but could only smash his low effort against the outside of Artur's right-hand post.But they will have to improve considerably on a performance where they only really threatened through Gaitan's second-half effort.
No comments:
Post a Comment