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The Portuguese midfielder was the hero for Portugal with a last-gasp winning goal in their World Cup clash against Ireland, after the Irish goalkeeper had kept out a spot-kick from the veteran forward.

Game Summary

The Wolves midfielder headed home during injury time to claim a narrow win, several seasons after Ronaldo had bagged a brace at the death to defeat a stubborn Ireland team.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to depart the Portuguese capital with a well-earned point, but in the end left empty-handed, despite regaining a good deal of pride with a battling display that erased some of the memories of last month’s disappointing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the defeat leaves them in a difficult position, with their initial trio of qualifying group matches having yielded only a solitary draw. They must defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any hope of claiming a playoff spot.

Key Incidents

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have earned Ireland a point when he superbly saved Ronaldo’s penalty with his trailing leg after Francisco Trincão’s shot had struck an Irish defender’s hand.
• Neves came to his side’s rescue in the opening moments of added time when he headed Trincão’s cross past Kelleher.

Other Qualifying Outcomes

Portugal’s Group

Hungary boosted their hopes of qualifying by picking up their initial victory with a two-goal triumph over Armenia, climbing above their opponents into second place behind the group leaders in the standings. A Hungarian forward provided Hungary the advantage in the first half and Zsombor Gruber made sure of the points in late added time.

Group K

Serbia slipped to a narrow defeat at home to Albania, with the outcome meaning England can now seal their qualification from their qualifying group by beating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker netted the decisive strike for Albania with a neat volley in late added time.

Latvia struggles in Group K persisted as they were forced to a 2-2 tie at home by Andorra. Ian Olivera scored for the away side late on from time to earn them their first point of the qualifying campaign and extend Latvia’s winless run to five games.

Group E

Spain continued their impressive qualifying group run with a 2-0 victory over Georgia after strikes from a Spanish attacker and his teammate in Elche. The win continued the title holders’ flawless run in qualifying, having scored 11 goals in three games without letting in a goal.

In spite of the absence of players such as a talented winger, another forward, and Rodri due to fitness issues, Luis de la Fuente’s side showcased their dominance against a Georgian team that spent the majority of the game sitting back. The home side controlled the encounter with over eighty percent of the ball, and Georgia did not have a single attempt on target or create a scoring opportunity, with only goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili preventing a heavy defeat.

The scorer opened the scoring in the first half from a expertly taken dead-ball move, and his compatriot wrapped up the victory in the second period with a spectacular free kick after the Georgian keeper had saved Ferran Torres’s spot-kick.

Other Results

• Turkey returned to winning ways with a 6-1 thrashing over Bulgaria to keep the pressure on Spain in Group E. Real Madrid’s Arda Güler was one of the goal-getters.
• Italy improved their hopes of at least reaching the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable victory away to the Estonian team, thanks to goals from a forward, another attacker, and a third scorer.

The Italian coach commented: “We’re not thinking about Norway or our next opponents. We know what we have to do.”

Italy failed to qualify for the previous two World Cups, twice falling short in the qualifying rounds, and the dreaded playoff path now looks their most likely opportunity after Norway’s 5-0 win over Israel in their qualifying group. Norway are leading on eighteen points from six matches. The Italians have twelve points with a game in hand on their competitors and are three points ahead of Israel. The Estonian squad stay in fourth place on three points. The group winners qualify directly for the tournament, with the runners-up entering the playoffs.

The Italian national team host their rivals on Tuesday, where a victory would cement second spot and, while they can still theoretically catch Norway on points, the leaders’ much better goal ratio means a playoff spot likely awaits for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.