Benfica secured a dominant 5–0 victory over Swiss side St. Gallen at
the Estadio da Luz today, successfully overturning a 2–1 first-leg
deficit to advance 6–2 on aggregate into the next round of the Europa League. The undisputed hero of the evening
was Greek forward Vangelis Pavlidis, who netted a magnificent four
goals in 74 minutes.
Pavlidis opened the scoring in the 11th minute and completely dismantled
the visitors in the second half, striking again in the 55th, 65th, and
74th minute of the game. New signing Clement Lenglet capped off the
glittering display with an 82nd-minute goal.
St. Gallen’s frustrations boiled over when Jozo Stanic was sent off
following a second yellow card in the 57th minute. With this commanding
comeback, Marco Silva’s squad moves on to the next phase of the competition, where they will take on Scottish side Hearts in a two leg affair.
