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By Martin Graham | nineteenth Nov 2022
Portugal continued their preparation for the World Cup with a 4-0 pleasant win in opposition to Nigeria. They had been lacking star man and workforce captain Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been within the headlines of late due to his controversial interview with Piers Morgan.
The iconic quantity 7 was lacking with a abdomen bug however his presence on the pitch was not missed a lot as his teammates had been in a position to comfortably put the Super Eagles to the sword. It was his Manchester United teammate Bruno Fernandes that was the star of the present because the attacking midfielder netted a brace.
It didn’t take lengthy for Portugal to open the scoring within the match as Bruno Fernandes struck within the ninth minute of the sport. Diogo Dalot obtained an extended move from Joao Felix after which made his approach into the field earlier than displaying good persistence to seek out his Manchester United teammate. Fernandes’ end was a straightforward one as he solely wanted to fit the ball into an empty web.
Portugal dominated proceedings within the first half and had been in a position to forestall their opponents from making progress as they gained the ball again constantly with a robust press. They had been additionally doing all they might to trend probabilities for themselves and their stress finally paid off as they gained a penalty.
In the thirty fourth minute, Nigeria’s fullback Bright Osayi-Samuel was deemed to have dedicated a foul within the penalty space after Bernado Silva’s cross hit his arm. The protests of the Nigerian gamers fell on deaf ears because the referee pointed to the spot. The ensuing penalty was transformed by Bruno Fernandes for his second aim of the sport.
Just earlier than half time, Joao Felix was as soon as once more concerned with Portugal probability. This time be discovered Bruno Fernandes with an excellent by means of ball however Fernandes was unable to transform from a good angle to finish his hatrick.
Nigeria didn’t have a lot to supply from an offensive perspective however for just a few forrays into the Portuguese penalty space from Joe Aribo and Moses Simon, which had been no issues for the Portuguese defence.
Nigeria began the second half higher than they ended the primary however for essentially the most half they might not create any good alternatives for them to capitalize on and get themselves again within the sport.
Portugal finally took management of proceedings by upping their tempo and compelled Francis Uzoho to make an important save. A deflected shot from Joao Felix from about 15 yards out was parried away by the keeper within the 73rd minute.
Nigeria had been handed a lifeline within the eightieth minute as Diogo Dalot’s foul on Osayi-Samuel was given as a penalty by VAR. Emmanuel Dennis stepped up for the spot kick and noticed his weak spot kick saved by Rui Patricio.
Dennis and Nigeria had been made to remorse their missed alternative as Portugal went on to attain one other two objectives within the closing levels.
The first one got here only a minute after the miss through debutant Goncalo Ramos. The end was a easy one as he handed the ball into an empty web after a sq. ball from Raphael Guerrero.
Ramos then turned supplier two minutes later after his backheel within the field discovered Joao Mario, who completed a clean Portuguese transfer to make it 4-0.
It was too straightforward in the long run for Portugal as their opponents couldn’t muster any correct resistance all through. It’s off to the World Cup for Fernando Santos’ males as their subsequent match will probably be on the twenty fourth of November in opposition to Ghana.
Martin Graham is an MFF sports activities author
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