Portugal secures comfortable victory over Czech Republic

 

Portugal continued their winning form in the UEFA Nations League when they defeated the Czech Republic 2-0 on Thursday night in Lisbon.

Portugal has played three matches so far, playing a 1-1 draw with Spain in their first match before defeating Switzerland 4-0 in a match where Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace, and Joao Cancelo rounded off the scoring that started with an own goal.

However, on Thursday night, the Portuguese dominated the visitors in Lisbon, scoring two goals in the first half of the game.

It started with Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo who made it two goals in his last two games when he was freed into the box by Bernado Silva in the 33rd minute before unleashing a powerful shot past the Czech goalkeeper.

Goncalo Guedes made it 2-0 five minutes later, benefitting from another Bernado Silva pass and slotting past Czech goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek.

Neither side could add to the scoreline, but the 2019 winners of the UEFA Nations League had done enough to secure another important three points, which set them at the top of the group with seven points, two more than Spain, who got a 1-0 win over Switzerland.

These ways remain bottom of the table with no points from three games ever lost to Spain and Portugal, and the Czech Republic. Swiss Thursday’s loss was a 1-0 defeat to Spain courtesy of a 13th-minute strike from Pablo Sarabia.

Portugal will now travel to Switzerland on Sunday for the next match while Spain will face the Czech Republic. Meanwhile, in other games, Norway couldn’t beat 10-man Slovenia in a 0-0 draw, but Sweden lost to Serbia in a 1-0 defeat.

On Friday in the UEFA Nations League, Austria faces France, and Denmark will play Croatia.

On Saturday, Italy will host England, Germany will play Hungary, Belgium will also face Wales, and the Netherlands will play Poland.

 

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu