Benfica - Arabstoday
A first-half strike from gave Jorge Jesus\' men their first win of the group stage, and handed the Romanians a night to forget on their home Champions League debut.A first-half goal from Bruno Cesar gave Benfica their first win of the Champions League group stage, and condemned Romanian champions Otelul Galati to a night of misery in Bucharest.Cesar netted five minutes from the interval and his effort proved the only difference between the sides in a tight affair.After Benfica\'s exciting 1-1 draw with Manchester United in week one, they made two changes to their side for the trip toRomania: Javier Saviola and Bruno Cesar both coming in to replace Pablo Aimar and Ruben Amorim.The hosts – after their 2-1 loss to Basel – replaced suspended defender Adrian Salageanu with Zoran Ljubinkovic.The sparsely-filled National Arena in Bucharest was the venue for Otelul\'s first home Champions League encounter, but it was the visitors who started the brighter, with Nicolas Gaitan hitting a fierce drive from outside the area on five minutes.After 30 minutes it was becoming clear that the Romanians were somewhat overawed by their foreign surroundings. But luckily for them, Benfica were unable to turn their high possession rate into actual chances.That all changed though on 40 minutes. A beautifully-weighted through-ball from Gaitan dissected the Otelul defence, and was neatly finished off by Bruno Cesar, who slotted the ball over the onrushing keeper to give the Portuguese side a 1-0 lead going into half-time.As with the first period, the second half was all Benfica. The fact that after an hour\'s play, Jorge Jesus\'s men had 70 per cent possession and had reduced the hosts to no shots on goal really tells its own story.And the rest of the match continued in much the same vein. Javi Garcia and Bruno Cesar were combining expertly in the centre of midfield, and created a great chance for Oscar Cardozo on 79 minutes, but the striker headed directly at the goalkeeper from six yards, when it was perhaps easier to score.The final 10 minutes meandered towards the final whistle, but Benfica will be pleased with three points that take them to the top of Group C, while Otelul will be underwhelmed by their display.