Champions League: Benfica 2 Zenit St Petersburg 0 (agg 4-3)

Benfica progressed to the last eight of the Champions League 4-3 on aggregate, thanks to a 2-0 win over Zenit St Petersburg on Tuesday.

A goal from Maxi Pereira moments before half-time and another from Nelson Oliveira in second-half injury time saw Jorge Jesus’ men run out comfortable winners in the round-of-16 second leg at Estadio da Luz.

The mach started out at a high tempo, with hosts Benfica enjoying the majority of possession during the early exchanges.

Axel Witsel created the first opportunity of note for the Liga Sagres team.

His pass picked out Bruno Cesar, who tried his luck from the edge of the box, but Zenit goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev successfully blocked the shot.

Benfica remained in control and they came close to scoring again five minutes later, when Pereira played a one-two with Nicolas Gaitan.

Regaining possession, Pereira shot across goal from a tight angle, with no team-mate on hand to tap the ball home.

Against the run of play, the visitors almost broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute, when a loose ball fell in the path of Roman Shirokov.

The Russian midfielder aimed his shot at the bottom right corner of the goal, but Benfica goalkeeper Artur was able to save it on the second attempt.

The home side recovered from the scare to take the lead shortly before the half-time whistle.

Witsel had a shot from inside the box parried away by Malafeev, but from the rebound the Belgium international played a marvellous back-heeled pass to Pereira, who slotted home from close range.

In the 67th minute, Oscar Cardozo had a chance to put the outcome beyond doubt when he gathered a loose ball in a threatening possession, only to shoot wide of goal with just Malafeev to beat.

As the game wore on, Zenit struggled to produce any kind of threat, allowing Benfica to double their lead in the injury time.

Cesar sent through Oliveira, and the substitute calmly beat Malafeev to seal a 2-0 win on the night, sending his team through 4-3 on aggregate.

It was a deserved victory for Benfica, who will learn their next opponents when the draw for the quarter-finals takes place on March 16.