Evergreen Ronaldo Stars As Portugal Run Riot
16 November, 2024
Portugal 5-1 Poland
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as unbeaten Portugal extended their lead at the top of League A1 to six points after hammering Poland 5-1 in the second last game at Estádio do Dragão. The Selecao skipper Ronaldo spearheaded the attack, with Rafael Leao and Pedro Neto on either side of him in attack.
Portugal crushed Poland 5-1 in League A1 as Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice, extending their lead to six points. Spain edged Denmark 2-1 to stay unbeaten in League A4, while Scotland beat Croatia 1-0. Switzerland and Serbia drew 1-1, keeping Serbia's hopes alive.
Roberto Martinez's charges struggled to create chances in the first stanza, as they hardly tested goalkeeper Marcin Bulka.
Leao eventually broke the deadlock for Portugal on the hour-mark with a close-range header from a cross by Nuno Mendes. Ronaldo settled the nerves for the hosts 18 minutes before time after he made it 2-0 from the penalty spot. The floodgates openened with ten minutes remaining after Bruno Fernandes made it 3-0 for The Selecao with a rocket from range. Neto made it 4-0 three minutes later with a tap-in as Portugal were running riot.
Ronaldo got the fifth goal for Martinez's men and completed his brace three minutes before time with an acrobatic finish.
Dominik Marczuk scored a consolation goal for Poland moments later.
Denmark 1-2 Spain
Spain remained unbeaten at the top of League A4 after edging Denmark 2-1 in the penultimate group game at Parken Stadium.
La Roja experimented with Ayoze Perez, who led their attack instead of Alvaro Morata, with Mikel Oyarzabal, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena completing the attack.
Oyarzabal gave Spain the lead on 15 minutes with a low finish in the box after a pass by Perez and the Villarreal forward doubled their lead on the hour-mark with a strike in the bottom corner after getting past a couple of challenges.
Gustav Isaksen pulled a goal back for Denmark in the dying minutes after a mistake at the back by Spain.
With La Roja already through to the quarter-finals, The Danes will continue to fight for a spot in the last eight in the final group encounter.
Scotland 0-1 Croatia
Ten-man Croatia missed the chance to seal a quarter-final spot after a 1-0 loss to relegation-threatened Scotland in the penultimate group match at Hampden Park.
Andrej Kramaric was at the tip of Croatia's attack while Scotland relied on Scott McTominay to link up their front players.
The Chequered Ones were down to ten men on the stroke of half-time after Petar Sucic got a second booking and was sent off.
It took up until the last four minutes for John McGinn to finally break the deadlock for The Tartan Army with a strike from a rebound in the box.
Scotland picked up their first win as they remained bottom of the section.
Switzerland 1-1 Serbia
Serbia remained in the running for a quarter-final spot after a 1-1 draw against Switzerland in the second last group encounter Letzigrund Stadion.
After a quiet first stanza, Aleksandar Mitrovic had a chance to open the scoring for Serbia ten minutes from the interval from the penalty spot but his spot-kick was saved by goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
Zeki Amdouni eventually got the breakthrough for Switzerland 11 minutes before time with a first-time shot on the edge of the box.
Aleksa Terzic, however, levelled matters for Croatia two minutes before time with a shot from the edge of the box.
Source: www.snl24.com