Youth defeated by Benfica

Red Star - Benfica 1:2 (0:1)

Stadium : "Crvena Zvezda Youth School Field".

Referee : Damjan Kos, Poland.

Scorers : Maksimović in the 58th minute for Red Star, and Varela in the 14th and 51st minutes for Benfica.

Yellow cards : Roganović, Ilić (Crvena zvezda), Gaspar, Tome, Martino Pećoto (Benfica).

Red Star : Draškić, Stojković, Milosavljević, Roganović, Đurić (from 84. Markočević), Gaštarov (from 46. Ilić), Maksimović, Kostov, Jovanović (from 66. Ranković), Šljivić, Sremčević (from 72. Damjanović).

Reserves : Bekonja, Ilić, Tošić, Ranković, Ramadani, Markočević, Damjanović, Tegeltija, Đorđević.

Benfica : Wojtinovicius, Souza Santos (from 84. Martino Pećoto), Oliveira, Fonseca (from 66. Silva), Gaspar, Ferreira, Freitas (from 90. Fernandes), Moreira (from 66. Gomes), Rego, Tome (from 84 . Martins), Varela.

Reserves : Ferreira, Silva, Martino Pećoto, Martins, Figuerdo Pires, Fernandes, Gomes, Santos Ferreira, Soares.

Red Star opened the game with an opportunity in the fifth minute of the game, when after Stojković's cross, the right back of the red and white team - Đurić, jumped over the stopper of the Portuguese team and hit the ball with his head, and it hit the outside part of the crossbar. Two minutes later, Draškić prevented a dangerous attempt by the guests from ending up in our net, with a phenomenal save. Benfica took the lead with a goal in the 14th minute of the game, scored by Gustavo Varela.

The red and whites threatened in the 22nd minute of the game from a free kick, but Vasilij Kostov's cross did not reach the players of our team. After Benfica's goal, the fight on the field flared up, and our boys tried to attack the opponent more aggressively, forcing them to make a mistake by pressing. The players of the Portuguese club had possession, and our fast-footed footballers threatened in counterattacks from the side positions. Zvezda had a new attempt in the 27th minute of the game through Vasilij Kostov, who tried his "left" shot from 20 meters from the Benfica goal, and his shot ended up near the guests' post.

With his defenses and boxing, Vuk Draškić brought calmness to our team's defense, which was of great importance in building the attack of Nenad Milijaš. The pressure of the red and whites began to bring more and more results. In the 31st minute, Lazar Jovanović made nice moves to throw his keeper out of the game, and then sent a very dangerous cross, which ended up as a shot, right next to the visitors' goal. Zvezda had another great chance, and this time Andrija Maksimović crowned the counterattack with a shot, who shot excellently, but the visiting goalkeeper was up to the task.

The second part of the game started with a shot from distance by Andrija Maksimović. He shot excellently from 25 meters, but the visiting goalkeeper managed to control the attempt of Zvezda's offensive midfielder. Benfica took a 2:0 lead in the 51st minute of the game, and the scorer was again Gustavo Varela.

Crvena zvezda managed to reduce the deficit in the 58th minute with a goal by Andrija Maksimović. Initially, Vasilije Kostov shot, and after a real "ricochet" in the guests' penalty area, the ball was picked up by Maksimović, who managed to shake the Benfica net with a great shot. This goal brought much-needed energy into the game of Nenad Milijaš's team, who were the better opponent for most of this match. He had a huge opportunity to score the equalizing goal of Vasilija Kostov, after a mistake in passing the visitors' goalkeeper, but his attempt managed to catch up and save the Benfica net keeper. Vuk Draškić showed all his magnificent talent on several occasions, stopping all 100% chances of the Portuguese team. Nenad Milijaš's team had a chance to equalize in the last moments of the match, and after Sljivić's cross, Ranković shot, but his attempt went wide of Benfica's goal.

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