Soccer Football - Primeira Liga - Rio Ave v Benfica - Estadio Dos Arcos, Vila do Conde, Portugal - June 17, 2020. Benfica's Julian Weigl celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates, following the resumption of play behind closed doors after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Jose Coelho/Pool via REUTERS
Benfica joined Porto at top of the Primeira Liga standings when goals by Haris Seferovic and Julian Weigl secured a 2-1 win at nine-man Rio Ave on Wednesday.
Seferovic and Weigl struck in the second half as Rio Ave, who are sixth on 41 points from 27 games, had Ali Al Musrati and Nuno sent off.
Benfica, who have 64 points, are behind Porto on the head-to-head rule.
Soccer Football - Primeira Liga - Rio Ave v Benfica - Estadio Dos Arcos, Vila do Conde, Portugal - June 17, 2020. Benfica's Haris Seferovic celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates, following the resumption of play behind closed doors after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Jose Coelho/Pool via REUTERS
Mehdi Taremi headed the opener home for Rio Ave in the 26th minute against the run of play, but the hosts lost their cool after the break.
Al Musrati picked up a second yellow card in the 63rd minute and Seferovic soon equalised from point-blank range after the goal was validated by a VAR review.
Weigl headed the winner in the 87th, 14 minutes after Santos was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle.
Soccer Football - Primeira Liga - Rio Ave v Benfica - Estadio Dos Arcos, Vila do Conde, Portugal - June 17, 2020. Rio Ave's Al Musrati is shown a red card by referee referee Luis Godinho, following the resumption of play behind closed doors after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Jose Coelho/Pool via REUTERS
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ed Osmond)
Soccer Football - Primeira Liga - Rio Ave v Benfica - Estadio Dos Arcos, Vila do Conde, Portugal - June 17, 2020. Benfica's Julian Weigl celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates, following the resumption of play behind closed doors after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Jose Coelho/Pool via REUTERS Soccer Football - Primeira Liga - Rio Ave v Benfica - Estadio Dos Arcos, Vila do Conde, Portugal - June 17, 2020. Benfica's Julian Weigl celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates, following the resumption of play behind closed doors after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Jose Coelho/Pool via REUTERSSoccer Football - Primeira Liga - Rio Ave v Benfica - Estadio Dos Arcos, Vila do Conde, Portugal - June 17, 2020. Benfica's Ruben Dias reacts, following the resumption of play behind closed doors after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Jose Coelho/Pool via REUTERS Soccer Football - Primeira Liga - Rio Ave v Benfica - Estadio Dos Arcos, Vila do Conde, Portugal - June 17, 2020. Benfica's Rafa in action, following the resumption of play behind closed doors after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Jose Coelho/Pool via REUTERS Soccer Football - Primeira Liga - Rio Ave v Benfica - Estadio Dos Arcos, Vila do Conde, Portugal - June 17, 2020. Rio Ave's Santos in action against Benfica's Dyego Sousa, following the resumption of play behind closed doors after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Jose Coelho/Pool via REUTERS Soccer Football - Primeira Liga - Rio Ave v Benfica - Estadio Dos Arcos, Vila do Conde, Portugal - June 17, 2020. Rio Ave coach Carlos Carvalhal during the match, following the resumption of play behind closed doors after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Jose Coelho/Pool via REUTERS Soccer Football - Primeira Liga - Rio Ave v Benfica - Estadio Dos Arcos, Vila do Conde, Portugal - June 17, 2020. Rio Ave's Mehdi Taremi celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates, following the resumption of play behind closed doors after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Jose Coelho/Pool via REUTERS Soccer Football - Primeira Liga - Rio Ave v Benfica - Estadio Dos Arcos, Vila do Conde, Portugal - June 17, 2020. Rio Ave's Mehdi Taremi celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates, following the resumption of play behind closed doors after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Jose Coelho/Pool via REUTERS
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