Cristiano Ronaldo scored the decisive goal in the 88th minute to help Portugal come from behind to beat Scotland 2-1 in a Nations League match in Lisbon.
At the Stadium of Light in Lisbon, Portugal had a dramatic 2-1 victory over Scotland in the Nations League match . Despite falling behind early, the home team successfully came back with the brilliance of Bruno Fernandes and especially captain Cristiano Ronaldo, continuing their impressive form.
The match started with a big surprise when Scotland opened the scoring after just 7 minutes. From Kenny McLean’s tricky deep pass, Scott McTominay broke free and headed past goalkeeper Diogo Costa to put the visitors ahead. It was McTominay’s 10th goal for the national team, continuing his impressive form of late.
McTominay headed the opening goal for Scotland.
However, Scotland’s early goal did not shake the home team’s spirit. Portugal quickly regained control of the game and continued to put pressure on the opposition’s half. Rafael Leao became the biggest threat to the Scottish defense with his speed and technique. Scotland goalkeeper Angus Gunn made a series of excellent saves, most notably pushing the ball to his right to prevent Leao’s dangerous shot from going into the far corner.
Despite creating several dangerous chances, Portugal failed to score in the first half. Diogo Jota had the best chance when he headed in Bruno Fernandes’ pass, but the ball went straight into Gunn’s hands.
In the second half, coach Roberto Martinez decided to send Cristiano Ronaldo on to replace Joao Palhinha. The appearance of the 39-year-old superstar made a clear difference to Portugal’s play. However, the one who scored the equalizer was Bruno Fernandes in the 54th minute. From Leão’s back pass, the Manchester United midfielder unleashed a dangerous left-footed shot from outside the box. The Scottish goalkeeper immediately reacted by diving, but could not stop the ball from going into the net.
Ronaldo scored to help Portugal make a successful comeback.
After conceding the goal, Scotland pressed forward, launched dangerous counter-attacks and almost had a penalty when Billy Gilmour went down in the box. However, referee Maurizio Mariani was right not to give the penalty because Ruben Neves had touched the ball first.
When the match seemed to end in a draw, Cristiano Ronaldo once again proved his superstar status. In the 88th minute, from a pass from Nuno Mendes, CR7 broke through and finished accurately, defeating Gunn, bringing victory to Portugal. This was Ronaldo’s 901st career goal, and also marked the first time he scored against Scotland.
This is the 901st goal in CR7’s illustrious career.
The win helped Portugal continue their impressive form under Roberto Martinez. Meanwhile, Scotland suffered their second consecutive defeat in the Nations League, following a 3-2 loss to Poland in their previous match. Pressure is mounting on manager Steve Clarke as his side have won just one of their last 14 games.
Portugal will next travel to the Republic of Ireland, while Scotland will host Sweden at Hampden Park. Both teams will be determined to win to improve their position in the Nations League rankings.
