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The Portuguese midfielder was the hero for the Portuguese side with a injury-time winner in their World Cup qualifying encounter against Ireland, following the Irish goalkeeper had denied a spot-kick from the veteran forward.

Match Overview

The Wolves midfielder nodded in during added time to secure a narrow win, several seasons after the star striker had bagged a brace late on to defeat a resilient Ireland team.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to depart the Portuguese capital with a hard-fought point, but in the end left empty-handed, despite regaining a good deal of pride with a gritty performance that erased some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing loss in Armenia.

However, the loss puts them staring down the barrel, with their initial trio of qualifying group games having yielded only a solitary point. They need to defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any chance of claiming a playoff spot.

Major Incidents

• The Liverpool keeper looked to have secured Ireland a draw when he superbly kept out Ronaldo’s penalty with his trailing leg after a Portuguese player’s shot had hit Dara O’Shea’s hand.
• Neves saved Portugal in the opening moments of added time when he directed a delivery from the wing past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Qualifying Outcomes

Group F

Hungary boosted their chances of qualifying by picking up their first win with a two-goal victory over Armenia, climbing above their opponents into second place behind Portugal in the standings. Daniel Lukacs provided his team the advantage in the first half and Zsombor Gruber made sure of the points in second-half added time.

Group K

Serbia slipped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Albania, with the result meaning England can now seal their passage from Group K by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker netted the decisive strike for his team with a well-taken shot in first-half stoppage time.

Latvia difficulties in Group K persisted as they were forced to a 2-2 draw at home by Andorra. An Andorran player scored for the visitors 12 minutes from time to earn them their first point of the qualifiers and prolong Latvia’s winless run to five games.

Group E

The Spanish national team continued their dominant Group E run with a 2-0 victory over the Georgian side after strikes from Jéremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal in Elche. The win continued the European champions’ flawless run in qualifying, having notched 11 goals in three matches without conceding.

In spite of the unavailability of players such as Lamine Yamal, another forward, and Rodri due to fitness issues, the Spanish squad demonstrated their dominance against a Georgian team that passed most of the match defending deep. Spain controlled the match with more than 80% of the ball, and Georgia did not have one shot on target or generate a clear chance, with only goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili averting a heavy defeat.

Pino opened the scoring in the first half from a expertly taken dead-ball routine, and his compatriot wrapped up the victory in the 64th minute with a spectacular set-piece after Mamardashvili had saved Ferran Torres’s penalty.

Other Results

• Turkey returned to winning ways with a comprehensive victory over the Bulgarian side to keep the pressure on Spain in their section. Real Madrid’s a young talent was among the goal-getters.
• The Italian squad boosted their prospects of at least making the knockout stage with a comfortable victory away to Estonia, thanks to strikes from Moise Kean, another attacker, and a third scorer.

Gennaro Gattuso said: “We’re not thinking about Norway or Israel. We know what we have to do.”

The Azzurri failed to qualify for the last two World Cups, on two occasions falling short in the playoffs, and the dreaded backdoor route now appears their most likely chance after Norway’s comprehensive win over Israel in their qualifying group. The Norwegians are leading on eighteen points from six matches. Italy have twelve points with a game in hand on their competitors and are a trio of points clear of their next opponents. Estonia stay in fourth place on three points. The top teams advance automatically for the World Cup, with the second-placed sides going into the playoffs.

The Italian national team host Israel on Tuesday, where a win would cement second spot and, while they can still mathematically catch the group leaders on points, the leaders’ much better goal difference means a playoff spot probably awaits for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.