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The Portuguese midfielder saved the day for Portugal with a dramatic winning goal in their World Cup qualifying encounter against the Republic of Ireland, after the Irish goalkeeper had saved a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Match Summary

The Wolves midfielder nodded in during added time to secure a 1-0 win, several seasons after Ronaldo had scored twice at the death to overcome a stubborn Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to leave Lisbon with a well-earned point, but ultimately left empty-handed, despite restoring a good deal of honor with a gritty display that overshadowed some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

However, the loss leaves them facing elimination, with their first three qualifying group matches having yielded only a single draw. They must defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any chance of claiming a playoff spot.

Major Moments

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have earned Ireland a point when he brilliantly saved Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his outstretched foot after Francisco Trincão’s shot had struck Dara O’Shea’s hand.
• Neves came to his side’s rescue in the opening moments of stoppage time when he headed Trincão’s cross past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Group Outcomes

Portugal’s Group

The Hungarian team enhanced their chances of qualifying by picking up their first win with a 2-0 victory over the Armenian side, climbing above their opponents into the runner-up spot behind the group leaders in the standings. Daniel Lukacs gave Hungary the advantage in the first half and Zsombor Gruber made sure of the points in late added time.

Group K

Serbia suffered a narrow defeat at home to Albania, with the result meaning England can now seal their qualification from their qualifying group by beating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker netted the only goal for Albania with a neat shot in first-half added time.

The Latvian side struggles in their group persisted as they were forced to a two-all draw at home by the Andorran team. An Andorran player found the net for the away side 12 minutes from time to earn them their first point of the qualifiers and extend Latvia’s winless run to five games.

Group E

The Spanish national team maintained their impressive qualifying group campaign with a comfortable victory over the Georgian side after goals from Jéremy Pino and his teammate in the match venue. The result continued the European champions’ flawless run in the qualifiers, having scored eleven strikes in three matches without conceding.

Despite the unavailability of players such as a talented winger, another forward, and Rodri due to fitness issues, the Spanish squad demonstrated their dominance against a Georgian team that passed the majority of the game defending deep. Spain controlled the match with over eighty percent possession, and the visitors did not have a single attempt on target or generate a scoring opportunity, with only shot-stopper Giorgi Mamardashvili preventing a heavy defeat.

The scorer broke the deadlock in the 24th minute from a expertly taken dead-ball move, and his compatriot wrapped up the win in the second period with a spectacular set-piece after the Georgian keeper had denied a Spanish player’s penalty.

Other Results

• Turkey returned to winning ways with a 6-1 thrashing over Bulgaria to stay close to Spain in their section. The Spanish club’s Arda Güler was one of the scorers.
• The Italian squad boosted their hopes of at least reaching the knockout stage with a 3-1 win away to the Estonian team, thanks to strikes from a forward, Mateo Retegui, and a third scorer.

Gennaro Gattuso commented: “Our focus isn’t on Norway or Israel. We know what we have to do.”

The Azzurri missed out for the last two World Cups, on two occasions falling short in the qualifying rounds, and the feared playoff path now looks their primary chance after Norway’s 5-0 win over the Israeli side in their qualifying group. Norway are leading on 18 points from six matches. Italy have 12 points with a game in hand on their rivals and are a trio of points ahead of their next opponents. Estonia stay fourth on three points. The group winners qualify directly for the World Cup, with the second-placed sides entering the playoffs.

Italy face Israel on Tuesday, where a win would cement second spot and, while they can still mathematically catch the group leaders on points, the Norwegians’ far superior goal difference means a qualifying place probably beckons for the Italian squad.