Portugal beat Poland 5-1 in the fifth round of the UEFA Nations League in Group 1. With this victory, the Portuguese team secured qualification to the quarter-finals of this competition as leaders, awaiting the determination of its opponent.
At the Dragao Stadium in Porto, the two teams faced each other with different goals and ambitions.
The home team aspired to win or draw to secure their place at the top of their group and take a relatively easier path in the next round, while the visiting team wanted to win to revive their hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals.
In the first round, the Polish team entered the match pressing from the beginning in order to surprise their Portuguese counterpart with a goal that would scatter their cards. There were a number of Polish attempts on the Portuguese goal, most notably Zielinski’s shots in the 12th minute of the match.
The Polish pressure continued in the first half when player Brzezicki was alone in front of the Portuguese goal and shot the ball towards the goal until player Nuno Mendes took it out before it entered the net. However, the Polish pressure continued until the end of the first half without scoring a goal.
In the second half, the Portuguese team rose up and wanted to decide the result of the match in their favor, so coach Roberto Martinez replaced player Joao Neves with player Vitinha in an attempt to activate the midfield. This change quickly took effect and the Portuguese team became more Fluidity from the first half.
In a counterattack, player Rafael Leao advanced with the ball from defense to attack and passed the ball to his teammate Nuno Mendes who returned it with a cross to Leao to deposit it with his head into the Polish net, announcing the first goal for the home team.
In the 72nd minute, Portugal got a penalty kick after the ball hit the defender’s hand, which was executed by player Cristiano Ronaldo who calmly shot it into the middle of the goal, announcing the second goal.
Eight minutes later, player Bruno Fernandes shot a powerful ball outside the penalty area that settled in the Polish goal, announcing the third goal, ending the Poles’ dreams of winning the match.
Three minutes later, the Chelsea winger received it from Cristiano Ronaldo and shot it powerfully into the narrow corner of the Polish goalkeeper.
In the 88th minute, Cristiano concluded the goal festival with a wonderful scissors kick, leaving his mark on the most beautiful goal of the match
A minute later, player Dusztek scored to save face for the Poles.
With a shot from outside the penalty area, Portugal qualified for the quarter-finals. It is waiting for the next matches to know its opponent’s identity.
