Football round-up: Oliveira takes bold Benfica through into the last eight

 

Saul Brookfield
Tuesday 06 March 2012 20:00 EST
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A goal from substitute Nelson Oliveira in added time at the end of the second half took Benfica through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League as they beat Zenit St Petersburg 2-0 at the Estadio da Luz last night to progress 4-3 on aggregate.

Maxi Pereira wiped out the Russian team's advantage from the first leg on the stroke of half-time with a close-range finish after being set up by Axel Witsel's neat backheel. Oliveira then rewarded the Lisbon side's second-half domination in dramatic fashion late on, latching onto Bruno Cesar's clever pass to score from 12 yards.

In the Championship, leaders Southampton were held 1-1 by in-form Ipswich Town at St Mary's, Rickie Lambert's 74th-minute goal cancelled out by Jason Scotland with five minutes to go. "This won't knock confidence in the changing room," claimed the Southampton manager, Nigel Adkins. "We are still on a great run and we have as good a chance as anybody of winning this league."

Reading recorded their seventh straight win to move within a point of West Ham in second place, beating Portsmouth 1-0 through Noel Hunt's first-half goal. Middlesbrough also won and moved up to fourth in the table, a Seb Hines goal in the 60th minute and a Bart Ogbeche strike seeing off Barnsley at the Riverside.

Nottingham Forest slipped back into trouble with a 2-1 defeat at home to fellow strugglers Doncaster Rovers, who moved off the bottom of the table at Portsmouth's expense.

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