Nunez' lone goal helped the Portuguese club to go through to the quarter-finals of the competition with an aggregate 3-2 victory.
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Darwin Nunez scored a late winner as Benfica beat Ajax 1-0 in the Champions League round of 16 second leg fixture at Amsterdam Arena on Tuesday. The result helped the Portuguese club to go through to the quarter-finals of the competition with an aggregate 3-2 victory. The teams had drawn 2-2 in the first leg in Portugal. This is the fifth time Benfica has reached the last-8 of the Champions League and first in six years. The two-time European champions Benfica were eliminated by Bayern Munich in the 2016 quarter-finals.
? THIS IS SPORT LISBOA E BENFICA! ?❤️#AJASLB #UCL pic.twitter.com/vj67pEZsRn
— SL Benfica (@slbenfica_en) March 15, 2022
Ajax were having a brilliant Champions League campaign having scored 22 goals so far but struggled to convert chances in Amsterdam. Sebastian Haller, the first player to score in his opening seven champions League games and the quickest to reach 11 goals in the competition’s history, had goals disallowed for off-side in the game.
Ajax started the match on the driving seat as Haller put the ball inside the net from Tadic’s assist but the referee had raised the flag for off-side. Antony’s long-range effort was comfortably collected by Benfica keeper Odysseas Vlachodimos. The hosts were dominating the opening half as Ryan Gravenberch cut inside from the left and fired a shot just over the crossbar.
After the break, Tadic made space for himself with a nice little step-over but the playmaker’s shot from outside the box went over the bar. Daley Blind combined with Tadic down the left flank before delivering a cross from the byline, but Antony’s header went wide.
Meanwhile on 77 minutes, Benfica took the lead against the run of play, when Nunez headed home from a free-kick. That was Benfica’s only shot on target in the entire match and it was enough to take them through to the next round.
