Sunderland were defeated 2-0 by Portuguese side Benfica at the Stadio Municipal de Albufeira, a game in which the English side failed to stamp any real authority.

The Black Cats began the game with a 4-5-1 formation, combating Benfica’s strength in attack by packing the midfield, with Kenwyne Jones playing the lone forward role.

Simon Mignolet was called into action early on as he saved brilliantly from an Oscar Cardozo shot when the Paraguayan was put through by Brazilian forward Weldon after just eight minutes.

Sunderland responded in kind when Jones was inches away with a header from a Steed Malbranque cross just 10 minutes later, but early pressure proved fruitful for Benfica, as the home side opened the scoring after 29 minutes when Cardozo guided a Fabio Coentrao cross past Mignolet in Sunderland’s goal.

The situation worsened for Sunderland when just five minutes later Jones was replaced by Martyn Waghorn following an apparent leg injury, with manager Steve Bruce keen to avoid any risks.

Three minutes before half-time, Benfica’s Coentrao, who was bright throughout, attacked brilliantly down Sunderland’s right flank, but Cesar Peixoto slashed a shot high and wide following a neat pass by the young Portuguese left-back.

The second half began at the Stadio Municipal de Albufeira with Sunderland pressing forward through Frazier Campbell whose pace was causing problems.

Several Benfica substitutions, including the introduction of Pablo Aimar and Javier Saviola to the game, caused disruption to the Portuguese side, but Sunderland were unable to take advantage.

Alan Kardec, another Benfica substitute, almost doubled the Portuguese side's lead on the hour mark, but his shot was s******ed once again by the excellent Mignolet.

Sunderland failed to create any attacking danger throughout the second half as Anton Ferdinand was part of an embarrassing defensive error when his poorly struck back pass was almost pounced on by Benfica’s attack, but Mignolet was quick off his line to clear the danger.

The Eagles finally scored a second with just two minutes of normal time to play, however, when midfielder Carlos Martins struck a sensational 30-yard strike past Mignolet who had no chance.

Sunderland: Mignolet, Angeleri, Richardson, Turner, Ferdinand, Colback, Zenden, Henderson, Al-Muhammadi, Malbranque, Jones