Benfica traded early goals with Braga, but could not conjure a winner and had to make do with a 1-1 home draw that padded their title deficit to 12 points.

Freddy Adu hopped off the bench to make a five-minute cameo for the Eagles, enough time to draw a yellow card foul out of Miguelito.

Before the Stadium of Light could even settle in, the hosts were behind as Zé Manuel converted a César Peixoto cross.

After Rui Costa threatened with a long shot, the veteran midfielder set up Benfica's equalizer in the 21st minute. The former AC Milan playmaker lofted a ball into the area and Luisão went up his ladder to apply the finish.

A midfield battle ensued, stretching into and across the second half. Nuno Assis, Rui Costa and Oscar Cardozo could have done better with finishing attempts, but it was Nélson who was left holding his head in the waning moments. As the game moved near time, the Eagles defender rang the post on his bid for a late winner.

Benfica now will get set for a derby visit to Sporting Lisbon on Saturday.

Scoring
BRA - Zé Manuel 1 (César Peixoto) 5'
BEN - Luisão 2 (Rui Costa) 21'

Line-ups
BEN - Quim; Nélson, Luisão, Kostas Katsouranis, Léo, Gilles Binya, Petit (László Sepsi 65'), Nuno Assis (Freddy Adu 84'), Rui Costa, Ángel Di María (Mantorras 79'), Óscar Cardozo

BRA - Pawel Kieszek; João Pereira, Paulo Jorge, Alberto Rodríguez, Miguelito, Pablo Contreras, Roberto Brum, Zé Manuel (Wender 62'), César Peixoto (Nuno Frechaut 50'), Matheus, Roland Linz (Jaílson 73')