Portugal was suddenly stopped. Ronaldo could only shout at the referee
Georgy Ilyushchenko October 16, 2024, 00:03 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Scotland survived in the Nations League, although Cristiano still had a chance.
Portugal and Scotland had a sleepy reign in the Nations League and failed to score a goal. This match will soon be forgotten, so let’s leave a small textual mention.
Martínez made six changes to the lineup at once: Silva, Cancelo, Vitinha, Pagliña, Jota and Conceicao came in instead of Veiga, Dalo, Silva, Neves, Leau and Neto. Ronaldo is untouchable for the Spanish. The same couldn’t be said for the Scottish spectators: as soon as Krish received the ball, he was immediately rewarded with a loud whistle.
Football developed at a slow pace, as if the broadcasts of the Russian Cup Road of Regions matches continued. Throughout the first half, the only worthwhile thing the teams created between themselves was McTominay’s missed chance from a Robertson cross, when an uncovered Scott headed straight into Coste’s hands. At Manchester United he did this.
Cristiano also tried to impale himself: it was cute, but painfully inaccurate. It was noted that from a tournament point of view the match was not of great importance for Portugal. The main thing is not to lose to Croatia in the last round and first place is in the bag. Well, Scotland, even motivated, is not exactly a formidable force.
christian ronaldo
Photo: Rob Casey/SNS Group via Getty Images
The Portuguese put heavy pressure on the Scots in the second half. However, it was not possible to take advantage of this on the scoreboard. In the 61st minute Neves, Silva and Leau came on, but that didn’t help. Cristiano took two on the swing and shot into the far corner, but missed. And at the end of the match, Bruno’s counterattack was effectively repelled by Gordon. It didn’t help that Krish got scared, shouted at the judge and applauded him.
1.87 xG for 0.46 in favor of Portugal: there is confidence that the expected goals results were greatly inflated. 14:4 in shots (3:2 on goal), 10:1 in corner kicks, 70% to 30% possession. But what can be done if the Scots are tired of losing? The last time they did not lose a place in official matches was a year ago in the Euro Cup qualification against Cyprus. The 10th anniversary meeting became a turning point: the “bus” finally went the entire distance. Despite the ruling, a draw with Croatia will be enough for the Portuguese; at the same time, they did not beat Poland.
Portugal’s last game was much more fun:
Ronaldo easily won the duel against Lewandowski! Portugal crushed Poland