Source: Eurosport
Everton crushed by Benfica
A depleted Everton side were crushed 5-0 by Benfica in their Europa League match at the Estadio da Luz.[LNB] Benfica took the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half with four goals, three of them in the space of five minutes.[LNB] Javier Saviola and Oscar Cardozo both scored a brace with Luisao also on target against an Everton side missing 11 players.[LNB] Everton were always chasing the game, and Luisao should have put Benfica ahead in the fifth minute when he headed wide following a corner from Pablo Aimar. [LNB] The home side made the breakthrough in the 14th minute with a superb half-volley from Saviola after a crossfield pass from Angel Di Maria split the defence.[LNB] Benfica were winning the majority of possession, but Di Maria saw his effort in front of goal turned away by an alert Sylvain Distin. Benfica launched a swift counter-attack in the 39th minute, only for Ramires to find the side-netting from an acute angle. [LNB] Everton made a shocking start to the second half and suddenly found themselves 3-0 down. Cardozo scored both at the back post, the first with a close-range finish in the 46th minute, the second a header 60 seconds later. [LNB] Saviola and Di Maria set up the goals, and it was becoming a defensive nightmare for Everton without the likes of several experienced players. [LNB] Then Luisao increased their misery in the 52nd minute - extending Benfica's lead to 4-0 after Seamus Coleman made a desperate but vain attempt to keep the ball out. [LNB] Three minutes later, Di Maria smashed a shot against the bar as Everton struggled to regroup and Benfica made it 5-0 in the 84th minute when Saviola got his second of the match after a cross from Di Maria.
