Dodgson and Ekdal strikes secure victory against the Eagles
The Clarets recorded a fifth victory of pre-season on Tuesday night after winning 2-0 against Primeira Liga side Benfica in Portugal.
Owen Dodgson opened the scoring in the second half before Hjalmar Ekdal sealed the win in Lisbon with a goal in the 83rd minute at Estadio do Restelo.
Vincent Kompany made several changes from Saturday’s match with Genk, with only Scott Twine and Ameen Al-Dakhil keeping their places in the XI.
First Half
Benfica started brightly in the Portuguese capital and it was former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward Angel Di Maria with the first effort on goal but his strike sailed well over the target.
Gudmundsson then tested the Eagles’ defence with a teasing swinging cross into the area aiming for Weghorst, but the Icelandic’s ball fizzed narrowly wide.
The Clarets settled into the friendly and carved open another attack when Muric picked out Twine just Infront of the halfway line with a pin-point pass, with the midfielder finding Al-Dakhil who forced a corner.
Muric was then forced into action to keep the scores level with 20 minutes on the clock, having to make a remarkable double-save from Goncalo Ramos and Joao Mario headers from close range.
The final chance of the half fell to Ramos again as the Portuguese international forced Muric into another save, this time tipping it over the crossbar.
Second Half
Kompany’s side came out on the front foot in the second half and it took the Clarets just seven minutes to grab the opening goal of the night through academy youngster Dodgson.
The full-back cut into the area and curled the ball home perfectly Into the bottom corner past Soares to give the visitors the lead in Lisbon.
Benfica looked to respond minutes later and Muric was called upon once again after pushing Tengstedt’s fierce effort wide of the goal.
Rodriguez looked to double the away side’s lead with a powerful header in the 74th minute from inside the area but Soares was equal to it and palmed it away.
But with seven minutes to play, Burnley did have their second as Ekdal pounced onto Soares’ parry and slammed home from close range to double the lead.
Starting XI: Muric, Al-Dakhil (Taylor HT), O’Shea, Ekdal, Dodgson (Roberts 61), Cork, Rodriguez (Davies 81), Twine (Zaroury 61), Gudmundsson, Trialist, Weghorst (Amdouni HT)
Booked: Cork 30’,
Goals: Dodgson 53’, Ekdal 83’
