Soccer-Five-star Benfica close in on title

LISBON, May 2 (Reuters) - Benfica moved closer to retaining the Portuguese League title by hammering Gil Vicente 5-0 away on Saturday, helped by two goals from Uruguayan Maxi Pereira. The win left them six points clear of their great rivals Porto, who only have four more games to try and close the gap. Pereira opened Benfica's account when he rolled the ball into an empty net after 15 minutes following a quick exchange of passes which sliced open the Gil Vicente defence. Jonas scored the second with a half-volley seven minutes later before Benfica then had several letoffs during a spell of Gil Vicente pressure including one incredible goalmouth scramble. Stalwart defender Luisao headed Benfica further ahead immediately after halftime and his fellow Brazilian Lima scored the fourth with a close-range header following a counter-attack just before the hour Another neat move through the centre of the Gil Vicente defence ended with Pereira scoring the fifth with 20 minutes still to play. Benfica have 78 points from 31 games, six ahead of Porto who visit Vitoria Setubal on Sunday. Third-placed Sporting Lisbon (69 points) beat Nacional 2-0 with two second-half goals by Colombian midfielder Fredy Montero. (Reporting by Brian Homewood, editing by Alan Baldwin)