Benfica and Zenit both found the back of the net as hosts, and as the final 10 minutes set up it appeared the two sides were headed to extra time (and maybe more) in freezing St. Petersburg, Russia.
Only, the visiting Portuguese side decided to take advantage of some major mistakes from the hosts in the final five minutes of the match. Up first, it was Zenit’s backline falling asleep only to be bailed out by an amazing save and his backline once again asleep at the switch.
A 1-1 scoreline and an away goal with just five minutes to play? Benfica were in the drivers seat, and could’ve parked the bus in hopes of just holding on to the precious away goal. Instead, Benfica kept pushing and within seconds of the final whistle they made sure there was no need for the away-goal rule to take affect.
A 2-1 final score and the Portuguese side moves on to the final eight of the Champions League.
