Benfica ended Borussia Dortmund’s 100 per cent start at the International Champions Cup as they triumphed 4-3 on penalties.
Portuguese giants Benfica overturned a two-goal deficit to salvage a 2-2 draw before surviving a shoot-out in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Wednesday.
Benfica rallied after the break following two first-half goals from Dortmund’s Maximilian Philipp had the Bundesliga side in control – Andre Almeida and Alfa Semedo restoring parity before Eduardo Salvio struck the decisive blow on penalties.
The result ended Dortmund’s run of back-to-back wins over Liverpool and Manchester City at the pre-season tournament in the United States, while Benfica avoided defeat in their ICC opener.
Dortmund started slowly as Pizzi fired a free-kick wide, before Omer Toprak came under pressure in his six-yard box to scramble clear.
The German outfit grew into the game, though, and opened the scoring in the 20th minute when Mario Gotze and Jacob Bruun Larsen played a one-two in the area, before Philipp poked home the latter’s cross.
Two minutes later it was 2-0 as Philipp latched onto Gotze’s pass and volleyed in to double Dortmund’s lead.
The former Freiburg striker nearly had a first-half hat-trick as Christian Pulisic crossed to the back post, but Ruben Dias cleared with Philipp lurking.
#BVB leads 2-0 at half! #BVBSLB #BVBUSA
Both goals from Maximilian Philipp pic.twitter.com/Pp5WLix3B5
— Borussia Dortmund
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