Cristiano Ronaldo delivered a goal as Portugal achieved a 3-1 victory over Poland, marking their third consecutive triumph in the Nations League on Saturday. Simultaneously, the reigning European champions, Spain, effectively halted Denmark’s flawless commencement in the competition.
In the 26th minute of the match in Warsaw, Bernardo Silva of Portugal scored a goal with a volley after Bruno Fernandes skillfully headed a cross from Ruben Neves back toward the Manchester City midfielder.
(L-R= Portugal’s midfielder #13 Renato Veiga, Portugal’s midfielder #10 Bernardo Silva, Portugal’s midfielder #08 Bruno Fernandes, Portugal’s defender #05 Diogo Dalot and Portugal’s defender #19 Nuno Mendes celebrate the 1-3 goal during the UEFA Nations League, League A Group A1 football match Poland vs Portugal at the National Stadium in Warsaw, Poland on October 12, 2024. (Photo by Sergei GAPON / AFP)
Ronaldo then found himself in the right place at the right time to turn in the rebound for Portugal’s second after Rafael Leao’s shot came back off the post following a brilliant surging run by the AC Milan winger.
The 39-year-old Ronaldo has now struck in all three games of this Nations League campaign for Portugal, taking his record men’s international goals tally to 133.
Piotr Zielinski cut the deficit for Poland but Jan Bednarek’s own goal sealed victory for Portugal, the lone remaining team in League A with a 100 percent record, and they could secure a place in the quarter-finals next week.
Roberto Martinez’s side have a maximum nine points in Group A1, three ahead of Croatia who beat Scotland 2-1 to condemn them to a third successive defeat in the section.
Ryan Christie’s first half-goal gave Scotland a shock lead in Zagreb, but Igor Matanovic equalised before the interval and Andrej Kramaric bagged the winner midway through the second half.
Che Adams thought he had salvaged a stoppage-time equaliser but VAR disallowed his effort for offside, with Scotland winless in nine competitive outings — the longest run in their history.
Spain needed a 79th-minute effort from Martin Zubimendi to shrug off Denmark 1-0 in Murcia and replace their opponents at the top of Group A4.
The hosts were without Rodri and Dani Carvajal, both sidelined by long-term injuries, with first-choice goalkeeper Unai Simon still recovering from wrist surgery, and Dani Olmo and Robin Le Normand also ruled out.
But Luis de la Fuente’s team grabbed the only goal when Zubimendi’s low drive from just outside the edge squirmed past Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who had earlier denied Lamine Yamal and Alvaro Morata.
Spain moved up to seven points, one above Denmark, with Serbia picking up their first win after beating Switzerland 2-0 in Leskovac.
Serbia led through Nico Elvedi’s own goal in first-half stoppage time and Aleksandar Mitrovic doubled the advantage before Predrag Rajkovic saved a penalty from Swiss striker Breel Embolo.
Both games in Group C3 finished goalless as Bulgaria were held at home by Luxembourg and Northern Ireland drew against Belarus on neutral ground in Hungary.
Romania eased to a 3-0 win away to Cyprus in Group C2, while Kosovo beat Lithuania 2-1.
AFP