World Cup Qualifier: Portugal 2-1 Republic of Ireland
Portugal secured a dramatic 2-1 win over a resilient Republic of Ireland to remain in pole position to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, with Cristiano Ronaldo becoming the all-time leading international goalscorer in the process.
In a match Portugal were expected to win with relative ease, things looked like going Portugal’s way early on when they were awarded a very soft penalty within the first quarter of an hour. The decision was then upheld despite the referee being encouraged by the VAR to double check the verdict on the pitch side monitor.
Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up in an attempt to put Portugal in front and break the long-standing record set by Ali Daei for international goals scored by a single player, but to the surprise of many, his effort was well stopped by the young Bazunu in between the sticks.
Most expected Portugal to go on and ease to victory despite the early setback, but things were not going according to the script. Despite dominating possession, Ireland remained a serious threat to Portugal, and created a couple of serious opportunities to break the deadlock in the process. Portugal did hit the post though, with Diogo Jota stretching to header just off target, indicating Portugal were still in relative control of proceedings.
Things started to spiral out of control though when Ireland took a shock lead, John Egan connecting well with a perfect McGrath corner just before half time.
With 45 minutes still to go until the full-time whistle, the feeling was that Portugal would still find a way to turn the match around despite a lacklustre, uninspiring first half performance.
But there was only a very slender improvement going into the second half, with Portugal seeing plenty of the ball as Ireland retreated to protect their narrow advantage. Their game plan proved highly one-dimensional though, with Portugal invariably relying on crosses to try and break the stubborn Irish defence, playing straight into their opposition's hands.
As time went on, there was a growing feeling that Ireland were going to pull off a shock upset, with Portugal seemingly running out of ideas.
However, for all of their incohesion, the substitutions implemented by Fernando Santos proved effective. Nuno Mendes was influential and busy from full back, but João Mario and Gonçalo Guedes proved the real game changers, coming off the bench to turn the game on its head by providing the two assists.
Guedes was first. In the 89th minute and when almost all hope was lost, the Valencia winger wriggled free on the right flank to play in a delicate cross to Ronaldo, who made no mistake in thumping home from close range, to the delight of the onlooking Portugal faithful.
Most likely would have taken a point just moments before, but with a healthy share of stoppage time to be added on courtesy of Irish time-wasting, there was a feeling that Portugal may, somehow, go one better.
And, 15 seconds past the initial alloted stoppage time had elapsed, the magic moment happened, with João Mario chipping in an excellent cross on the second attempt for Ronaldo to strengthen his new hold of the international goalscoring record.
The emotion of that moment was evident both in the crowd and on the field. The Portugal players wheeled away in jubilation as Ronaldo peeled off his shirt, despite knowing that it would lead to the customary booking that would ensure he would miss Portugal’s next World Cup qualifier versus Azerbaijan.
It was an uncomfortable night for Portugal in the end - making for uncomfortable viewing - but a satisfying conclusion will have more than made up for it.
