🔗 Share this article

The Portuguese midfielder was the hero for Portugal with a injury-time winning goal in their World Cup qualifying clash against Ireland, after the Irish goalkeeper had saved a penalty from the veteran forward.

Match Summary

Neves found the net during injury time to snatch a narrow win, four years after Ronaldo had bagged a brace late on to defeat a stubborn Irish side.

The Irish squad looked set to leave Lisbon with a hard-fought draw, but ultimately suffered defeat, despite restoring a significant amount of pride with a gritty performance that overshadowed some of the memories of last month’s disappointing defeat in Armenia.

However, the defeat puts them staring down the barrel, with their initial trio of qualifying group matches having yielded only a single draw. They need to defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any chance of claiming a qualifying place.

Major Incidents

• Kelleher seemed to have secured Ireland a draw when he superbly saved Ronaldo’s penalty with his outstretched foot after a Portuguese player’s effort had hit an Irish defender’s arm.
• The match-winner came to his side’s rescue in the first minute of added time when he directed Trincão’s cross past Kelleher.

Other Group Results

Portugal’s Group

The Hungarian team boosted their hopes of qualifying by picking up their first win with a two-goal triumph over the Armenian side, moving above their rivals into second place behind the group leaders in Group F. A Hungarian forward provided his team the lead in the first half and Zsombor Gruber secured the points in second-half added time.

Group K

The Serbian national team suffered a narrow defeat at home to Albania, with the outcome meaning the Three Lions can now secure their passage from Group K by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker netted the only goal for Albania with a neat shot in first-half added time.

The Latvian side struggles in Group K continued as they were held to a 2-2 tie at home by Andorra. Ian Olivera found the net for the visitors late on from time to earn them their initial draw of the qualifiers and extend Latvia’s winless run to several matches.

Spain’s Group

Spain continued their dominant Group E campaign with a comfortable victory over Georgia after goals from Jéremy Pino and his teammate in Elche. The win continued the European champions’ flawless record in the qualifiers, having notched 11 goals in three games without conceding.

In spite of the absence of key figures such as a talented winger, another forward, and Rodri due to fitness issues, Luis de la Fuente’s side showcased their superiority against a Georgia team that passed the majority of the game defending deep. Spain controlled the encounter with more than 80% of the ball, and the visitors did not have one shot on target or create a scoring opportunity, with only shot-stopper Giorgi Mamardashvili preventing a rout.

Pino opened the scoring in the first half from a well-executed dead-ball move, and his compatriot wrapped up the victory in the 64th minute with a spectacular set-piece after the Georgian keeper had denied Ferran Torres’s spot-kick.

Additional Scores

• Turkey bounced back with a comprehensive victory over Bulgaria to stay close to Spain in Group E. The Spanish club’s Arda Güler was one of the scorers.
• Italy boosted their prospects of at least reaching the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable victory away to the Estonian team, thanks to strikes from Moise Kean, another attacker, and a third scorer.

Gennaro Gattuso said: “Our focus isn’t on Norway or our next opponents. We know what we have to do.”

Italy missed out for the previous two World Cups, twice falling short in the qualifying rounds, and the feared backdoor route now looks their most likely opportunity after Norway’s comprehensive win over Israel in Group I. Norway are top on 18 points from six games. The Italians have 12 points with a match less played on their competitors and are three points clear of Israel. The Estonian squad remain fourth on three points. The group winners qualify directly for the tournament, with the runners-up going into the playoffs.

The Italian national team face their rivals on Tuesday, where a win would cement second spot and, while they can still theoretically catch the group leaders on the table, the leaders’ much better goal ratio means a qualifying place likely beckons for the Italian squad.