Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty and an overhead kick on Friday as Portugal beat Poland 5-1 to guarantee a place in the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals.
Ronaldo turned in a man-of-the-match performance in a blistering second half.
Rafael Leao broke the deadlock with a fine header 14 minutes into the second half and then Ronaldo got his 134th international goal from the penalty spot 13 minutes later.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Bruno Fernandes scored a stunning third from almost 30m out and three minutes later Ronaldo’s pass gave Pedro Neto the space to lash home a fourth from a tight angle.
Ronaldo made it five — and 135 — with a deft overhead kick three minutes from time.
Although Dominik Marczuk got a late consolation for Poland, the result ended their hopes of making the quarter-finals.
With Croatia losing 1-0 to Scotland, Roberto Martinez’s men are guaranteed top spot in Group A1.
Scotland moved to two points in the group, while Poland have four. They are to meet in Warsaw tomorrow, with Scotland needing a win to avoid relegation.
In Group A4, Spain beat Denmark 2-1, although Denmark remained in pole position to grab one of the top two group places.
They are in second place with seven points, two ahead of Serbia. The sides meet in Leskovac tomorrow. Last-placed Switzerland are to drop to League B after their 1-1 draw with Serbia.
In Group C3, Northern Ireland took a huge step closer to promotion to League B with a 2-0 win at home over Belarus. Martin O’Neil’s men just need a point against Luxembourg tomorrow to guarantee promotion to League B.
Bulgaria beat Luxembourg 1-0 away to move to second place with eight points. They face Belarus, who have six, tomorrow.
In Group D1, San Marino scored a stoppage-time penalty to draw with Gibraltar 1-1, who remained on top of the group with six points, two ahead of San Marino and four clear of Liechtenstein, albeit having played one game more.
With one game to go, all three teams are still in contention for promotion to League C.
The match between Romania and Kosovo in Group C2 was suspended in stoppage-time with the score 0-0 in Bucharest.
There were scuffles between players from both teams and Kosovo players walked off the pitch.
UEFA did not explain why the game was cut short, but Kosovo players were reportedly upset at hearing pro-Serbian slogans.
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS