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Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal in the 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign, but then missed a keeper as Portugal were forced to come from behind to beat Luxembourg 3-1 away on Tuesday.
Luxembourg entered the game with full confidence after beating the Republic of Ireland 1-0 and they took a shock lead against the European champions when Portugal’s Gerson Rodrigues, who scored in Dublin, threw a glance of the head at the half hour.
Portugal came close to leveling twice before Diogo Jota led the equalizer in the second minute of added time at the end of the first half. Ronaldo, who was denied a goal in the 2-2 draw with Serbia on Saturday as the ball cleared the line, put Portugal in the driver’s seat early in the second half, shooting into the lowest corner after combining with João Cancelo. Ronaldo should have scored again when the ball landed at his feet following a terrible Luxembourgish back pass, but he shot straight on Anthony Moris, who saved the striker’s second attempt with his feet.
João Palhinha put Fernando Santos’ side forward in the 80th minute by returning home on a Pedro Neto corner and Luxembourg’s Maxime Chanot was sent off for a second booking in the 87th minute. The victory saw Portugal climb to the top of Group A with seven points after three games, tied with Serbia, who beat Azerbaijan 2-1 thanks to Aleksandar Mitrovic’s brace, while Luxembourg are third with three points.
Belgium had been held 1-1 by the Czech Republic on Saturday, but clinched their second Group E victory in an emphatic fashion – an 8-0 win over Belarus.
Coach Roberto Martínez gave chances to several of his fringe players and was rewarded with a frantic display as Hans Vanaken and Leandro Trossard scored twice while Michy Batshuayi, Jeremy Doku, Denis Praet and Christian Benteke were also on. target. Belgium now lead the group with seven points, while the Czechs – who lost to Wales on Tuesday – are second with four.
the Netherlands winger Steven Berghuis scored one goal and put in another as they overcame a pointless first half to finally bang Gibraltar 7-0 in their World Cup qualification at Victoria Stadium.
Luuk de Jong, Memphis Depay, Georginio Wijnaldum and Donyell Malen shared four goals between them in nine minutes of the second half to give an emphatic look at the score after a stammering opening period frustrated by manager Frank de Boer.
Substitute Donny van de Beek added a sixth late in the game and Depay secured their second as the Netherlands recorded their biggest away win since a 7-0 victory over San Marino in 1993. The Dutch moved to second place in Group G with six points in three games. , a point behind the leaders turkey who were surprisingly held to a 3-3 draw at home by Latvia.
Before the match, Dutch players again wore t-shirts designed to highlight the plight of migrant workers in Qatar, which will host the next World Cup.
A late strike by Robert Mak resulted in Slovakia a 2-1 win over Russia in Group H as the home side absorbed the late pressure from the visitors to hang on to victory.
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Milan Skriniar put the hosts in the lead in the 38th minute when the Internazionale defender slipped his marker and returned home after a Mak corner kick.
Russia drew in the 71st minute after Mário Fernandes rebounded into the net. But Mak found a winner three minutes later when he grabbed a pass from Tomas Hubocan in the penalty area before beating two Russian defenders and passing the ball past Russian goalkeeper Anton Shunin.
Russia is tied on six points with Croatia leading Group H while Slovakia is one point behind. In other group matches Croatia spent on a cruise Malta 3-0 during Cyprus beat Slovenia 1-0.
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