AND come in, be on the field for a few minutes and score. Marcos Leonardo returned to the Benfica bench, contributing decisively to Clube da Luz’s victory against Sporting de Braga on Saturday afternoon.
With the match tipping towards the side of Minho, 20 minutes from the final whistle, at Estádio da Luz, Roger Schmidt looked at who he still had available and threw the ex-Santos player onto the field. And the Reds’ number 36 had been on the field for a minute when they tied the duel. In added time, he scored the second in the game and became Benfica’s striker with the most goals this season… and arrived at the Lisbon club in the January market.
The ‘two’ in this triumph against Sporting de Braga gave Marcos Leonardo the status of substitute with the most goals scored. The Brazilian has seven goals in 13 matches in the I League… six of them coming off the bench. And on Saturday he was not only Roger Schmidt’s ‘firefighter’, he also confirmed this ‘killer’ statistic.
When he scores… there is a victory for Benfica
In addition to proving to be largely decisive when he is not the starting option for Roger Schmidt, Marcos Leonardo also has the ‘knack’ of always scoring in games that end in victories for Benfica. It all started at the reception to Rio Ave, in which the Luz team won 4-1. The former Santos couldn’t have asked for a better debut: he replaced Arthur Cabral in the 63rd minute and in the 80th minute he scored the Reds’ third.
Goals followed against Boavista, Estrela da Amadora, Vizela and now a brace against Sporting de Braga. Marcos Leonardo only scored as a starter against Estoril, in a 3-1 victory. AI Liga is, however, the only competition in which the forward scored, he also played in the Europa League, Portuguese Cup and League Cup.
The fastest to score among the three strikers in the I League
Benfica’s winter reinforcement, Marcos Leonardo needed around three months to become not only one of the Eagles’ top five scorers throughout the season, but also ‘become’ the striker who needs the fewest minutes to score in the I League, that is if Let’s take into account the numbers of Casper Tengstedt and Arthur Cabral, the other two names that Roger Schmidt usually uses in the most advanced position on the pitch.
With help from the portal SofaScore, we can see that Marcos Leonardo, who has played 13 games in the championship, takes around 41 minutes to score a goal. Casper Tengstedt scores every 194 minutes (15 games in the competition), while Arthur Cabral – 27 games in the I Liga – is the one who takes the longest to celebrate in the I Liga (219 minutes).
“Marcos Leonardo will have another role”
After scoring twice against Sporting de Braga, Marcos Leonardo assured that, as far as Benfica’s squad depends, there will be a fight until the end to revalidate the title.
“I’m very happy for the team’s spirit and for helping the team with two goals. I believe we tried to win the game from the first half. We conceded a goal in the first half, but we never gave up. We’ll go until the end of the championship. As long as there’s a chance , we will fight for the title”, stressed the Brazilian, speaking to BTV.
Roger Schmidt praised the striker’s performance and confessed that he will have a different role in the next sports season.
“I’m very happy for Marcos Leonardo, he had a fantastic start, then he had some problems with his fitness, but I think today he showed the spirit he had at the beginning. I think he’s had around 300 minutes in the League and he’s scored seven goals, so It shows the quality he has. It’s up to us to develop him. It’s great that he came in the winter, he now has experience and he will have another role next season. Of course, goals are always good arguments for playing. Marcos showed this quality. The second goal also showed his courage”, said the German.
Despite these positive numbers, it is certain that Marcos Leonardo continues to play a secondary role in Roger Schmidt’s initial choices. The striker seems to ‘cry out’ for another status in the squad and it is now up to the German to decide whether or not to grant more space to the Canary Islander in this final stretch of the season.
Read Also: Marcos Leonardo does not ‘hand over’ the title to Sporting: “We will fight”
Read Also: Marcos Leonardo confirmed Benfica’s turnaround with this goal
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