competition resumed on 8 january with a home game against paços de ferreira. new signing moretto made his first appearance for benfica. nélson scored early, putting benfica in the lead, with geovanni setting the final score in the second half. with the win, benfica climbed to second place, four points ahead of sporting but ten behind leaders porto. on 11 january, benfica played tourizense for the 2005–06 portuguese cup. recently signed laurent robert scored the opening goal in the second half, while nuno gomes scored a second, letting benfica progress to the sixth round. four days later, benfica hosted académica at home. early in the match, roberto brum touched the ball with his hand inside the box, giving simão the opportunity to score the first goal; two more goals in the second half secured a comfortable 3–0 win for benfica. the following day, benfica signed académica striker marcel on a six-month loan. on 20 january, benfica played away to gil vicente. a 10th-minute goal from nandinho meant benfica trailed for the first time in the season at the quarter-hour mark. the lisbon-side responded with two first-half goals from simão and geovanni, while an own-goal in the second half confirmed the win for benfica. it was their seventh consecutive league win, a feat not seen in 11 years since the 1994–95 season. on 28 january, benfica played the derby de lisboa against sporting cp. benfica scored first through simão but they could not stop paulo bento's team from winning the match 3–1 at the luz. koeman said, "sporting was much better on the pitch, before the 1–0 and especially after".