Benfica booked their place in the last 32 of the Europa League with victory over BATE Borisov in Belarus.

The game came alive after a turgid first half as Argentinian forward Javier Saviola put the Lisbon giants in front within seconds of the restart, and he laid on a second for Fabio Coentrao.

BATE defender Sergey Sosnovskiy halved the deficit in the 69th minute but Benfica, who came into the match needing only a point to reach the knockout phase, went above and beyond for coach Jorge Jesus.

Chances were at a premium in the early stages and Siarhey Krivets' 35-yarder, which drifted weakly past Julio Cesar's left-hand post, was the best moment either side produced in the opening 10 minutes.

Oscar Cardozo had Benfica's first effort on goal in the 14th minute but it was comfortably held by Sergey Veremko.

Krivets came close to opening the scoring for BATE with a free-kick from 20 yards that rattled the crossbar after he had been fouled by Maxi Pereira.

David Luiz became the first player to be booked just before the half-hour mark for a foul on Vitaly Rodionov.

Benfica then had to deal with a series of BATE crosses before Cardozo kept the hosts on their toes with a shot that just drifted wide following Felipe Menezes' corner.

The second half sprang to life as Benfica forged ahead through Saviola.

Cesar Peixoto provided the assist for the former Barcelona and Real Madrid man, who steered in a left-foot shot from close range for his fourth goal in this season's competition.

Saviola turned provider in the 62nd minute as his pass found Coentrao, who made no mistake from 12 yards.

BATE had a go at reducing the deficit three minutes later when Sosnovskiy headed wide from a Krivets corner, and in the 69th minute the same combination did produce a goal to bring the Belarusians back into the match.

Benfica substitute Pablo Aimar, who replaced compatriot Saviola in the 67th minute, had a chance five minutes after coming on but drilled his shot wide.

Julio Cesar kept out a header from Alexander Yurevich with 15 minutes to go, and Angel di Maria tried to add a third for Benfica but his shot was fielded by Veremko.