Benfica coach Jorge Jesus has slammed match officials following his team’s controversial defeat to 3-2 winners FC Porto.
Oscar Cardozo scored for the Eagles late in the first half and early in the second period to cancel out Hulk’s opener but James Rodriguez brought Porto on equal terms in the 64th minute. Benfica’s Emerson saw red in the 77th minute for fouling key man Hulk from behind.
Ten minutes later, Maicon finished off a James Rodriguez free-kick with a header from an offside position. With this hard-fought victory, FC Porto moved 3 points clear off their bitter rivals at the displeasure of Jorge Jesus.
“Benfica did not deserve to lose. It was an excellent game, with two great teams, but it was a shame that Benfica lost it, we did nothing to deserve this,” Jesus told the press in the aftermath of the encounter.
“From the bench, I saw that Maicon was offside, I cannot understand how the linesman did not see it. The referees were not up to the task. There were many doubtful calls, which damaged Benfica.”
Benfica went into Friday night’s Classico with a perfect home record which shouldn’t have been broken, according to coach Jorge Jesus who concluded:
“There are many matches left to play, many points to play for, but we leave this match sad, because Porto are three points ahead and we feel we were defeated by the officials. It is not easy to overcome this defeat.
“Referees can make mistakes, but Porto’s third goal simply cannot happen. The linesman saw that he [Maicon] was offside, but he did not signal because he did not want to. He knew that Maicon was offside. He saw everything and he saw that two Porto players were offside.”
Benfica will resume their UEFA Champions League campaign next week with a match against Zenit at the Estadio da Luz. They have a 3-2 deficit against the Russians to overturn.
Ten minutes later, Maicon finished off a James Rodriguez free-kick with a header from an offside position. With this hard-fought victory, FC Porto moved 3 points clear off their bitter rivals at the displeasure of Jorge Jesus.
“Benfica did not deserve to lose. It was an excellent game, with two great teams, but it was a shame that Benfica lost it, we did nothing to deserve this,” Jesus told the press in the aftermath of the encounter.
“From the bench, I saw that Maicon was offside, I cannot understand how the linesman did not see it. The referees were not up to the task. There were many doubtful calls, which damaged Benfica.”
Benfica went into Friday night’s Classico with a perfect home record which shouldn’t have been broken, according to coach Jorge Jesus who concluded:
“There are many matches left to play, many points to play for, but we leave this match sad, because Porto are three points ahead and we feel we were defeated by the officials. It is not easy to overcome this defeat.
“Referees can make mistakes, but Porto’s third goal simply cannot happen. The linesman saw that he [Maicon] was offside, but he did not signal because he did not want to. He knew that Maicon was offside. He saw everything and he saw that two Porto players were offside.”
Benfica will resume their UEFA Champions League campaign next week with a match against Zenit at the Estadio da Luz. They have a 3-2 deficit against the Russians to overturn.
