Former PSV coach Roger Schmidt continued his impressive run in Portugal. During their away game at FC Porto, Benfica won 0-1 in a tough topper. It was Benfica’s nineteenth consecutive game without defeat.

Schmidt’s team, which was regularly criticized in his two years as a PSV coach despite winning the KNVB Cup and the Johan Cruijff scale, is now the leaders by a wide margin.

The team from Lisbon is also doing very well in the Champions League. There were two draws against wealthy Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica even managed to beat Juventus.

Tonight Benfica had to work hard for the three points. In a tough game, they played one man more for over an hour, but Schmidt’s side were late in converting the surplus.

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Referee João Pinheiro was already very busy in the first half. He drew no fewer than seven yellow cards, two of them for Porto midfielder Stephen Eustaquio, who was sent off in the 27th minute after two fierce attacks.

Until then, Porto were the better team. Schmidt saw his goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos tap a Mehdi Taremi header with a nice hover out of the corner.

But with another man Benfica seized the initiative and Porto avoided falling behind. Former Feyenoord controller Fredrik Aursnes – who notably plays left-hanging under Schmidt – went past his man and shot at the post. Rafa Silva then headed the rebound over the bar.

Benfica enjoyed plenty of possession in the second half, but Schmidt’s side struggled to find a gap in Porto’s tightly packed defence. The number of fouls remained numerous and a further five yellow cards were dealt.

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One of them was for former Ajax player David Neres. The Brazilian substitute was also the caller in Rafa Silva’s 1-0 draw after 70 minutes. The goal was initially disallowed for Neres’ alleged offside but the VAR saw that was not the case.

With the win, Benfica are now six points clear of pursuers Porto. Fans can cautiously dream of the 38th league title in club history and the first since 2019.