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Benfica salvage late draw

Lisbon - Benfica's Paraguayan striker Oscar Cardozo has bundled home a late equaliser to salvage a 1-1 draw against Olympiakos Piraeus in their Champions League Group C clash at the Luz stadium on Wednesday.

WRAP: Champions League

The result means the two clubs are level on four points in Group C, five points behind leaders Paris St Germain, who crushed Anderlecht 5-0.

Olympiakos opened the scoring in a rain-hit Lisbon through attacking midfielder Alejandro Dominguez in the 29th minute.

But it was the former Benfica keeper Roberto who was key to the final outcome.

Roberto, returning to the Luz stadium as Olympiakos' No. 1, failed to clear a corner in the 83rd minute and Cardozo pounced to earn his side a precious point.

Olympiakos' Kostas Mitroglou, who nailed a hat-trick in the previous round, was a constant headache for the Lisbon club's defence in the first half.

He fired just wide when through on goal from a tight angle and then floated a header near the post.

It was Mitroglou who assisted Dominguez with a clever backheel, the Argentine then confused centre back Ezequiel Garay with a sweet dummy, and coolly slotted home just before the half hour.

The rain kept pouring down to the point that the ball often got bogged down in midfield resulting in both teams opting for a direct style of play.

The surface water denied Olympiakos a second goal when a shot from David Fuster found a puddle instead of rolling in.

In the end, 27-year-old Roberto, who denied a Cardozo free kick with a great flying save in the opening minutes, lost focus for a moment in the dying minutes and the Paraguayan did not spare him a second time.

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