Saints start pre-season with high-quality Benfica test

Saints showcased their intentions to probe patiently with the ball, already implementing some of the principles new boss Russell Martin has been keen to impress on his squad.

Ultimately Benfica ran out 2-0 winners thanks to first-half goals from David Neres and Mihailo Ristić, but this was a very useful exercise for Saints, for whom 21 players featured over the course of the 90 minutes.

Martin’s promise to dominate possession was evident from the start, as a sustained sequence of passing from back to front and left to right led to Sam Amo-Ameyaw’s tricky feet setting up fellow youngster Kamari Doyle for a curling shot comfortably saved.

But Benfica are a serious outfit – champions of their country a record 38 times and Champions League quarter-finalists last season – and showcased their threat when Neres jinked inside on to his left foot and fired a curler of his own, rattling the base of the post from 20 yards.

Tyler Dibling was one of four Academy youngsters to start the game, alongside Jayden Meghoma, Kamari Doyle and Sam Amo-Ameyaw

The tourists then scored the opener in the 11th minute, as the Brazilian finished off a slick counter-attack with his less favoured right foot, drilling the ball inside Alex McCarthy’s near post just seconds after Sékou Mara’s cross threatened to pick out Carlos Alcaraz in the box.

Amo-Ameyaw continued to look lively down the right, combining well with Doyle, while James Ward-Prowse twice had sights of goal from the edge of the box – one volley over the bar, one low shot deflected past the post.

Meanwhile, Neres’s assault on McCarthy’s goal resumed with another trademark curler, but this time the keeper saw it coming and leapt to his right to repel the shot.

Saints had been competitive without managing to test Samuel Soares in the Benfica goal, but Serbian international left-back Mihailo Ristić doubled Benfica’s lead in the final seconds of the half, driving a precise low shot across McCarthy’s dive from the left corner of the area.

Martin made ten changes at the break, as was arranged before the game, with only Amo-Ameyaw staying on until he was replaced by Tyler Dibling, who had also started the match.

Gavin Bazunu made an outstanding late save after his half-time introduction

With Adam Armstrong operating in an advanced midfield role as the closest support to Ché Adams, it was left winger Moussa Djenepo who came closest to pulling one back for Saints, only to be thwarted by Soares, who was out quickly to shut down the angles.

Casper Tengstedt threatened to redirect a low cross on target with a clever flick at the other end, while Gavin Bazunu made a miraculous late save when João Mario squared the ball for Andreas Schjelderup in what was a useful pre-season opener for Saints against polished opponents.

Saints first half: McCarthy, Bree, Lyanco, Stephens, Meghoma, Alcaraz, Ward-Prowse, Doyle, Amo-Ameyaw, Mara, Dibling.

Saints second half: Bazunu, Livramento, Ćaleta-Car, Salisu, Walker-Peters, Smallbone, Lavia (Doyle 75), A. Armstrong, Amo-Ameyaw (Dibling 70), Adams, Djenepo.

Benfica first half: Samuel Soares, Morato, Veríssimo, João Victor, Ristić, Neres, Aursnes, Kökcü, Chiquinho, Rafa Silva, Musa.

Benfica second half: Samuel Soares, António Silva, Bah, Rafael, Florentino, João Mario, João Neves, Schjelderup, Tengstedt, H. Araújo, T. Gouveia.

Goals: Neres (11), Ristić (45).

Referee: Sunny Gill.