Portugal secure narrow victory against resilient Azerbaijan to avoid an upset

Portugal came up against a stubborn Azerbaijan in their opening World Cup 2022 qualifying fixture, relying on a comical own goal to get all 3 points against their unfancied opponents.

As expected, Portugal dominated the match from the first to the last minute, and early signs suggested that it would simply be a case of how many for the European champions.

However, for all their possession, Portugal struggled to forge too many clear-cut goalscoring opportunities, generally limited to long shots and hopeful crosses into the box.

João Cancelo struck a couple of curling efforts from the edge of the area, though failed to cause the inspired Azerbaijan goalkeeper any major problems.

Andre Silva came close from a header but his effort drifted off target, while Ronaldo's overhead kick also came close, but was called back for a foul.

Making just his second appearance for the Portugal national team, Domingos Duarte also came close on two occasions, but failed to hit the target on either occasion.

But perhaps the best effort of the half was a ferocious drive from Ruben Neves that forced the keeper into making a fine diving stop - though from the resultant cross, he made an almighty blunder, punching the ball onto captain Medvedev, which resulted in a travesty of an own goal to put Portugal ahead in underwhelming circumstances.

Portugal continued to dominate in the second half, seeing the vast majority of the ball, but again failing to take advantage - and Azerbaijan, who had pulled off their gameplan almost to perfection, were a growing threat on the counter attack.

Ronaldo struck three freekicks in the second half, coming closest on the third attempt where his dipping effort was too close to the goalkeeper and tipped over the bar in acrobatic fashion.

Ronaldo was at the centre of Portugal's best chance of the game though, laying the ball back to Bruno Fernandes, whose good strike was sensationally pushed over the bar yet again by the goalkeeper, his most impressive stop of the day.

Substitute João Felix also crafted a chance, making an excellent contribution as a second half sub, but his effort was again met by the strong arm of Magomedaliyev.

Plenty for Fernando Santos to think about

It is somewhat alarming that Portugal only very narrowly avoided a major upset; for all their firepower, they failed to score a goal of their own, relying on an extraordinary own goal to secure all three points.

It is also telling that both João Palhinha and Sergio Oliveira were brought on in the closing stages to add more solidity to midfield and try and see out the game, with 1-0 the most dangerous of scorelines with just minutes remaining, regardless of how inferior your opponents are perceived to be.

With a massive match against Serbia coming up in a matter of days, Portugal will need to be far better, and much more clinical, if they want to make it two wins from two.

At the same time, Azerbaijan deserve a lot of credit for making life difficult for Portugal - and were also dependent on some heroics from their goalkeeper. Though offering little offensively, their defensive organisation could, and perhaps should, have earned them a shock point in Turin.

Portugal can expect to play a slightly more expansive Serbia in their next outing - which could well work to their advantage.

This isn't the first time Portugal have struggled against the heavy underdog. Those who follow the national team will recall Portugal's 0-1 home defeat to Albania in their first Euro 2016 qualifying match, the result which saw Paulo Bento lose his job and Fernando Santos replace him. We all know what went on to happen after that.

Portugal also drew 2-2 against minnows Liechtenstein in World Cup 2006 qualifying, a scarcely believable result today, but a showing that upsets can, and do, happen. Portugal went on to reach the semifinal of that very World Cup, so it proved nothing more than a minor setback.

Portugal struggled versus Azerbaijan, and it wasn't remotely as comfortable as everyone almost unanimously would have expected. But, crucially, on this occasion they still got all three points, which could prove vital in their hopes to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.