Second place Benfica slipped to 10 points behind leaders FC Porto after suffering a 1-0 defeat at Belenenses on Saturday night.

Freddy Adu came on for the final 11 minutes and came agonizingly close to creating an Eagles equalizer.

The hosts carried first half play and were denied a 43rd minute opener when Quim made a big stop on Rodrigo Alvim.

The Benfica netminder also made a good save on the Belenenses shot in the 66th minute, but would finally fall victim five minutes later. Weldon cut inside form the left to curl a low shot inside the far post for the only goal of the game.

In the 74th minute, Óscar Cardozo had a prime chance to equalize, but directed Petit's pinpoint cross inches wide of the near post.

With eight minutes remaining, Benfica appeared to have the score knotted after a fine Adu set-up. The American mesmerized four defenders in the area before lifting a cross to the far post, but Cardozo's buried volley was nullified by a close call offside flag.

The Eagles will try to get back on course when Estrela Amadora come calling next Sunday.

Scoring
BEL - Weldon 2 71'

Line-ups
BEL - Marco; Ruben Amorim (Amaral 50'), Vukašin Dević, Rolando, Rodrigo Alvim (Miguel Areias 57'), Gabriel Gómez, Hugo Leal, Silas, José Pedro, Evandro Roncatto (João Paulo 89'), Weldon

BEN - Quim; Nélson, Luisão, David Luiz, Léo, Kostas Katsouranis (Ángel Di Maria 64'), Petit, Maxi Pereira (Nuno Gomes 64'), Rui Costa, Christian Rodríguez (Freddy Adu 79'), Óscar Cardozo