Ángel Di María at the double as Benfica beat Nacional 2-0 in Madeira
Benfica beat Nacional 2-0 to move one point behind Sporting Clube de Portugal who occupy top spot in the Primeira Liga. It was one way traffic in Madeira with Lucas França making four saves in the first half, the pick of the bunch to deny Nicolás Otamendi from point blank range.
The fog threatened to deny the Eagles once again in Chopana but the sky cleared, Orkun Kökçü rattling the bar five minutes after the restart. The breakthrough came in the 59th minute after Ulisses conceded a silly penalty, Ángel Di María stepping up and sending França the wrong way.
The Argentinian sealed the deal in the 74th minute when his deflected shot rolled past França. The goalkeeper produced another fine save late on when he tipped Leandro Barreiro's header off the woodwork.
Bruno Lage was been pleased with the way his side controlled the game after giving up a late equaliser in the 1-1 draw at AVS on Sunday, saying: "It was a very important and indisputable victory, on a very difficult pitch. Nacional fought well at home, but considering what we did and the chances we created, I think we could have scored more".