Croatia 2-3 Portugal - UEFA Nations League
Portugal finished their Nations League campaign with a 2-3 victory in Croatia, defeating the World Cup runners-up with an 89th minute winner.
It was a day to remember for Ruben Dias who, despite being part of a defence that conceded twice, not only scored his first ever goal for his country, but bagged a rare brace, sealing victory for Portugal after capitalising on a calamitous error from Croatia goalkeeper Livakovic in the closing stages to earn Portugal a scarcely deserved win.
In a less than convincing first-half display, Portugal were largely second best, seeing much of the ball but doing very little with it to challenge Croatia’s backline, and they ultimately fell behind, Kovacic benefiting from a poor Ruben Semedo clearance, getting on the end of a cross and converting on his second bite of the cherry after Rui Patricio pulled off a good stop to deny him first time.
Portugal looked a better team in the second half after the introduction of Francisco Trincao though, and soon gained a foothold in the game after Croatia’s Rog was sent off after a poor challenge on Cristiano Ronaldo earned him a second yelloe.
And Portugal capitalised immediately, Ronaldo’s intitial freekick pushed away by Livakovic, before Ruben Semedo smartly played the ball back across the box for Ruben Dias to tap home.
Portugal then took the lead soon afterwards, Diogo Jota getting on the end of an excellent Mario Rui ball over the top before playing in Joao Felix to score, though there was a hint of good fortune that it was allowed to stand, as the ball did bounce up and hit Jota’s arm in the build-up.
Nevertheless, Portugal led against ten men, and victory, which at one point looked highly unlikely, now looked assured - but there was another twist in the tale as Croatia managed to pull the game back level, Kovacic getting his second of the game with an excellent finish from the edge of the box.
And it looked like both sides would have to settle for a draw, Portugal again dominating possession - and looking the more likely to score - but rarely threatening. Bernardo Silva should have put Portugal ahead in the 79th minute from very close range, but his effort bounced off the ground and went over the bar to the frustration of fans watching on from home.
Portugal, however, managed to end their campaign with yet another victory right at the death as Ruben Dias poked the ball across the line after Livakovic spilled Joao Moutinho’s cross to gift Portugal all three points just before stoppage time.
Fernando Santos’ side were far from impressive though, and the manager was again left frustrated by what he saw. Much improvement will be required if Portugal hope to compete for the Euro 2020 title next summer.
