The 261st Clássico went the way of Porto, who beat SL Benfica 1-0 to win a sixth successive home league game and open up a five-point gap to their rivals at the Primeira Liga summit. 

2026/2027 Primeira Liga

3-1

Match Report

Benfica walked into a hostile Estádio do Dragão but certainly weren’t overawed by the occasion and took the game to Porto. Heorhiy Sudakov came close to making an early mark when he burst down the left and saw a goal-bound effort blocked by the legs of Jan Bednarek, and as the pressure began to grow, another big chance came and went when Gianluca Prestianni headed over Rafa Silva’s cross at the far post. Alexander Bah came even closer moments later when his volley was headed off the line by Pablo Rosario, but several big chances coming and going begged the question of whether the visitors would live to regret them. 

The answer to that question was an emphatic ‘yes’, as Porto made their rivals pay in brutal fashion. Estádio do Dragão hit fever pitch on 31 minutes when Pepê’s floated delivery over the top was plucked out of the sky by Gabri Veiga, who managed to squeeze an effort underneath Samuel Soares with just enough purchase to trickle over the line. Things went from bad to worse for Marco Silva’s side less than five minutes later when a petulant flick of the hand in the face of André Silva earned Clément Lenglet a red card and left Benfica with a huge mountain to climb after the break.

Clearly undeterred by the task ahead of them, whatever Silva said to his side at HT did the trick as his team hit straight back. Prestianni proved to be elusive to the Porto defence down the left, and he whipped in a perfect delivery which landed perfectly on the head of Bah to turn home an unlikely equaliser. That proved to be the wake-up call Francesco Farioli’s men needed to spark back into action, reestablishing their advantage three minutes after losing it when Victor Froholdt swept into the bottom corner from the edge of the area after being teed up by Silva.

Keen to leave nothing in doubt this time, Porto added a third on the hour mark through Hwang In-beom, who peeled away from his marker inside the area and fired Silva’s cut back high into the roof of the net. Several chances for Porto to add insult to Benfica’s injuries came and went, but with bragging rights assured, their evening’s work was long since done as they not only laid down a huge early marker in their quest to retain their Primeira Liga crown but also ended Benfica’s eight-match winning run.

Match Events

5' Highlight from Porto vs Benfica


12' Highlight from Porto vs Benfica


14' Highlight from Porto vs Benfica


35' Red Card! Sent Off



52' GOAL! Porto 1-1 Benfica



54' GOAL! Porto 2-1 Benfica (Victor Froholdt)



60' GOAL! Porto 3-1 Benfica (In-beom Hwang)



70' Highlight from Porto vs Benfica


74' Match Event for Porto vs Benfica


88' Highlight from Porto vs Benfica


Line-ups

Porto XI: Andre Silva, Bednarek, Diogo Costa, Pablo Rosario, Pepê, Kiwior, Gabri Veiga, Martim Fernandes, Victor Froholdt, Alberto Costa, William Gomes

Subs: Cláudio Ramos, In-beom Hwang, Santiago Gimenez, Francisco Moura, Sainz, Alan Varela, Luís Gomes, Dominik Prpić, Samu Aghehowa, Oskar Pietuszewski, Souza, Gabriel Mec

Benfica XI: Lenglet, Fredrik Aursnes, Rafa Silva, Palhinha, Vangelis Pavlidis, Alexander Bah, G. Sudakov, Samuel Dahl, Samuel Soares, Tomás Araújo, Gianluca Prestianni

Subs: Dodi Lukébakio, Leandro Barreiro, Anatoliy Trubin, Jakub Kamiński, Jhon Durán, Souffian El Karouani, Manu Silva, Andreas Schjelderup, Alessandro Circati, Echeverri, Daniel Banjaqui, Anísio Cabral