Ronaldo on target as Portugal maintain perfect Nations League start
IMAGE: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice, helping Portugal win 3-1 against Poland. Photograph: Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters
Portugal’s Bernardo Silva and Cristiano Ronaldo scored first-half goals in a comfortable 3-1 win away to Poland in the Nations League on Saturday as the Group A1 leaders continued their perfect start to the competition with three wins.
Silva put Portugal in front after 26 minutes, netting from Bruno Fernandes’ headed assist, before captain Ronaldo got his 133rd international goal when he doubled the lead 11 minutes later with a first-time shot after Rafael Leao hit the post.
Piotr Zielinski pulled a goal back for Poland in the 78th with a powerful strike into the roof of the net before home defender Jan Bednarek netted an own goal in the dying minutes.
Portugal continue to set the pace in League A Group One with nine points, three points clear of Croatia who came from behind to beat visitors Scotland 2-1 earlier on Saturday.
Poland, who beat Scotland 3-2 on the road in their opener before losing 1-0 in Croatia, are third with three points while the Scots have none so far.
The Poles started on the front foot and leading striker Robert Lewandowski came close to netting an early opener when he was inches from getting his head to a cross as Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Costa beat him to the ball.
Portugal, however, were quick to grow into the match and Poland keeper Lukasz Skorupski was put to work early when he blocked Diogo Dalot’s effort from close range.
Ronaldo then hit the bottom of the bar as Portugal continued to enjoy the bulk of possession and their chances kept coming.
Fernandes put Skorupski to the test again with a curled shot from just outside the box in the 14th minute and the keeper had to stretch to tip the ball away.
Poland’s vulnerable back line eventually capitulated when Silva struck before Ronaldo made it 2-0 with a calm finish.
Leao had recovered the ball near the halfway line and slalomed past four defenders before striking the post from inside the box leaving Ronaldo to slot home the rebound.
The 39-year-old Al-Nassr forward, who helped Portugal to 2-1 wins against Scotland and Croatia with a goal in each match, scored his 11th of the season for club and country.
He could have added a third after the restart but hesitated to finish from inside the area and instead found Fernandes, who sent the ball flying over the bar.
Poland got a glimmer of hope when Lewandowski had a chance a minute later as he climbed highest in the box to connect with a cross but sent his header narrowly wide of the left post.
Portugal coach Roberto Martinez continued to manage Ronaldo’s playing time, with Diogo Jota replacing him in the 63rd minute.
After playing practically every minute of every game at this year’s Euros, Ronaldo was replaced by Jota late in the game with Croatia and only started in the second half against Scotland.
Zielinski’s strike injected some life into the hosts but Poland lacked clear chances to equalise before Bednarek’s own goal confirmed the end of their two-year unbeaten home run.
Schmeichel caught out as Zubimendi earns depleted Spain 1-0 win over Denmark
IMAGE: Spain’s Martin Zubimendi celebrates scoring their first goal. Photograph: Pablo Morano/Reuters
Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was left red-faced as a second-half strike by midfielder Martin Zubimendi gave an injury-hit Spain a hard-fought and deserved 1-0 win in Nations League Group A4.
Missing seven of the starters that beat England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final in July, Spain dominated proceedings from early on but it was not until the 79th minute that they managed to find the winner as Zubimendi netted his first goal for his country.
The Real Sociedad midfielder unleashed a first-time shot from the edge of the box that deflected off a defender before squirming under Schmeichel, who should have kept it out.
Spain lead the group at the halfway mark with seven points from their three games, followed by the Denmark on six and Serbia on four, with Switzerland bottom with no points.
“We are very happy, especially in such a tight game in which we had to dig deep to open the scoring,” Zubimendi told TVE.
“In the first half we didn’t play our best football, we left some spaces open in the back that they exploited and could have hurt us but we fixed it in the second half, locked them up and got the job done.”
Spain were missing Dani Carvajal and Rodri due to serious knee injuries while key players such as Nico Williams, Dani Olmo and Robin Le Normand were also absent.
They controlled the game but were wasteful, missing several chances to open the scoring, and were exposed on the counter, with goalkeeper David Raya making two brilliant saves from efforts by Kasper Dolberg.
Zubimendi and Alex Grimaldo wasted promising half-chances early in the game while captain Alvaro Morata missed a couple of clear opportunities later on.
The hosts should have led at the break but Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal missed an easy chance in the last action of the first half when he took a pass from Pedro Porro in his stride but blasted the ball over the bar.
Spain came out livelier in the second half and took the lead with a little help from Schmeichel who had made two magnificent saves to deny close-range efforts by Morata.
Yet when the ball was flung into the box, Schmeichel appealed for what he thought was a foul by Mikel Merino on Victor Nelsson and was then caught off-guard as Zubimendi’s effort deflected off a defender’s heel and slipped through the distracted goalkeeper’s grasp.
Kramaric scores as Croatia come from behind to beat Scotland in Nations League
IMAGE: Croatia’s Andrej Kramaric scores their second goal. Photograph: Antonio Bronic/Reuters
Andrej Kramaric headed in a 70th-minute winner as Croatia fought back from a goal down to claim a 2-1 victory over visitors Scotland in the Nations League on Saturday at the Maksimir Stadium.
After a lethargic opening in which Croatia dominated possession, Scotland opened the scoring in the 32nd minute when defender Josip Sutalo’s botched clearance fell at the feet of Bournemouth’s Ryan Christie, who swivelled and squeezed in a shot from a tight angle.
Sparked into action, Croatia hit back four minutes later as Ivan Perisic’s pin-point cutback was driven into the bottom corner through a sea of Scotland defenders by Igor Matanovic for his first international goal.
Croatia continued to press forward after the break and Hoffenheim forward Kramaric scored the crucial goal when he headed home a rebound from close range after Scotland keeper Craig Gordon kept out a crisp volley from Borna Sosa.
Scotland thought they had nabbed a late equaliser in the 95th minute when Che Adams was quickest to react to a loose ball in Croatia’s penalty area, but the Torino forward was adjudged to be offside after a VAR review.
Croatia are second in League A Group 1 with six points, level with leaders Portugal, who face Poland later on Saturday. Scotland, who have suffered three defeats, remain bottom with no points.
