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Jonas secures late winner to lift Benfica over Zenit
Jonas ended Zenit Saint Petersburg’s dogged resistance in second-half stoppage time to lift Benfica to a 1-0 victory in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie on Tuesday.
Zenit frustrated Benfica for long stretches on the evening, but their hopes of a largely deserved draw evaporated in one horrific sequence. Dominico Criscito procured a second booking for a challenge on André Almeida and set the stage for disaster. Nicolás Gaitán curled his free into a dangerous area for the unmarked Jonas to nod inside the near post at the death.
The late winner placed Benfica on the cusp of the quarterfinals ahead of the second leg at the Petrovsky Stadium on March 9. Benfica possess enough menace to harbor genuine hopes of procuring the killer away goal, while Zenit must overcome the absences of Criscito and Javi Garcia (yellow card accumulation) and the lack of match practice to overturn the tie.
"We were deserved winners against a good team," Benfica coach Rui Vitoria told reporters after the win. "We did not take many risks, we almost always had the match under control and tactically we were perfect. We perhaps deserved to score earlier."
The late demise always loomed as the primary concern for Zenit on a night where solidity mattered first and foremost. Zenit manager André Villas-Boas grasped the ramifications of the lack of competitive matches since the 2-1 defeat to Gent in December and instructed his players to focus on shape first and foremost from the outset.
Benfica assumed the responsibility in possession without doing much with it. Nicolas Gaitan found himself shadowed at every turn, while the lack of menacing width permitted Zenit to set out its stall effectively in a dour first half. Pizzi squandered a chance inside the opening 20 minutes the hosts toiled in their attempts to put Zenit to the sword.
The visitors remained largely content to hold their ground without trying to commit numbers forward on the counter. Artem Dzyuba cut an isolated figure up front, while Hulk offered little to the proceedings. Axel Witsel forced Júlio César down to block seven minutes into the second half, but his effort proved a rare sign of menace on the evening.
Vitoria replaced the active, if somewhat impotent, Kostas Mitroglou with Raúl Jiménez just after the hour. Jiménez improved matters with his running off the ball, but Zenit’s lack of fitness and the intensive demands tipped the balance more noticeably.
Gaitan conjured a sterling opportunity on the night after 69 minutes. Jiménez drifted out to the left, reached the end line and swung his cross toward the penalty spot. Jonas cushioned his header down perfectly to allow Gaitan to collect and slice through the static Zenit defense. Gaitain angled his drive toward goal from seven yards, but Lodygin thwarted the effort with his arms to deny Benfica the opener.
Lodygin’s defiance proved critical as the Benfica efforts continued to peter out inside the Zenit penalty area. There were odd concerns to manage, but the Portuguese side struggled to place Zenit under extreme duress for extended periods.
Those flaws nearly cost Benfica the chance to claim control of the tie, but the hosts persisted long enough to engineer the breakthrough. Criscito clattered through Almeida, while Gaitan produced a cultured free kick for Jonas to sweep home at the death. It proved harsh on Zenit for all of the energy expended on the night, but the outcome placed Benfica in firm control of its destiny with the second leg ahead in Russia next month.
"At home we will attack and try to create chances which we didn't manage today," a disappointed Villas-Boas admitted to reporters. "We prevented Benfica creating chances with crosses from the wings, with the exception of the last one, that gave them the advantage."
Villas-Boas added: "We have two more matches before the second leg which will allow us to gain some more practice. It was a pity to concede so close to the end. We wanted a 0-0, but the tie will be decided in our stadium."
Information from FOXSoccer.com's newswire services contributed to this report.
