Benfica vs Alverca: Pedro Henriques backs the penalty and the disallowed goal

Pedro Henriques says the key refereeing calls in Benfica vs Alverca were handled correctly. The match turned on a disallowed Alverca goal at 25 minutes, then a penalty for Benfica after Claudio Echeverri was tripped in the area at 49 minutes. Vangelis Pavlidis converted at 51 minutes to settle the 1-0 win.

The two decisive calls

Henriques' line was direct. Speaking to A Bola, he said: "Penalty on Echeverri correctly awarded and correct decision on the goal disallowed to the visitors". He added: "The two main decisions of the match, disallowed goal and the penalty, were correct."

The offside ruling was not a guess. A Bola reported that the VAR check settled on a 5 cm margin, and Henriques said the video referee repeated the measurement at least three times before the on-pitch decision was overturned.

On the penalty incident, Sergio Gómez tripped Claudio Echeverri and Benfica were correctly awarded the spot-kick. Vangelis Pavlidis took it well enough, scoring his 10th league goal in 10 Primeira Liga appearances this season.

The game-management debate

The wider debate around Bruno Costa was more mixed. A Bola carried praise for his physical condition and positioning, but also criticism that disciplinary management in the opening phase was not the most correct. That leaves his overall control of the match open to argument, even if the two biggest calls were judged right.

For Alverca, the sequence was the costly one. Their goal was initially validated, then removed by VAR, and the penalty at the other end turned a tight away performance into a defeat.

Henriques' view leaves the scoreline unchanged and the refereeing case settled in the key moments. Benfica won 1-0, and the two incidents that mattered most were the offside call at 25 minutes and Pavlidis' penalty two minutes after Echeverri was brought down.