Soccer-Benfica go joint top by beating nine-man Rio Ave

Seferovic and Weigl struck in the second half as Rio Ave, who are sixth on 41 points from 27 games, had Ali Al Musrati and Nuno sent off. Benfica, who have 64 points, are behind Porto on the head-to-head rule.

Benfica joined Porto at top of the Primeira Liga standings when goals by Haris Seferovic and Julian Weigl secured a 2-1 win at nine-man Rio Ave on Wednesday. Seferovic and Weigl struck in the second half as Rio Ave, who are sixth on 41 points from 27 games, had Ali Al Musrati and Nuno sent off.

Benfica, who have 64 points, are behind Porto on the head-to-head rule. Mehdi Taremi headed the opener home for Rio Ave in the 26th minute against the run of play, but the hosts lost their cool after the break.

Al Musrati picked up a second yellow card in the 63rd minute and Seferovic soon equalised from point-blank range after the goal was validated by a VAR review. Weigl headed the winner in the 87th, 14 minutes after Santos was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle.