Cristiano Ronaldo's late goal sealed Portugal's 2-1 win over Scotland, marking the 901st goal of his legendary career, and completed a thrilling comeback in Sunday's Nations League clash. Ronaldo reached 900 career goals with his 131st international strike in Thursday's win over Croatia. At 39 years old, the Al-Nassr forward showed no signs of slowing down, coming off the bench to lift Portugal to their second consecutive win in Nations League Group A1. The crowd at Estadio da Luz in Lisbon erupted in chants of Ronaldo's name after he netted the decisive goal with only two minutes left to play.
Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United scored the equalizer at the half-time mark on his 30th birthday, which was his first international goal after many…years of scoring. This victory was not only another tactical and emotional achievement for the Portugal coach but was also of personal value for him.
The humorous Martinez, who couldn’t hide his Scottish affection, said before the game that he’d consider going against his father-in-law for beating up Scotland. Of course, he did, and Scotland are still yet to win in Portugal.
Scotland’s misery extended on Thursday with a 3-2 loss to Poland at Hampden Park. They have won just one of their last 14 games, including a very disappointing first-round exit in the 2024 European Championship finals.
Yet Steve Clarke’s team won only one out of nine friendly matches and six official matches, in June against Gibraltar. ‘When you make substitution like that, with quality players coming off the bench, as Roberto can, one has to concede that there’s always a chance from the bench,’ explained Clarke. ‘At this point, I am very much disappointed for my players because I feel they deserved something in this game. But with the area and the amount of some balls into the box; it was just a matter of time that one of them would be going in and sadly that’s how it went.’
Ronaldo's Late Heroics
Scotland shocked their opponents with a goal after only seven minutes. Kenny McLean sent an excellent cross, and McTominay was able to find himself six yards out to head in the goal. McTominay, previously a Manchester United player, is now in Napoli and has scored 10 goals in the last 12 games for the team which competes at an international level.
However, Leao was at full speed as he struck the ball on the drive – only to thud to the side nets, then force Angus Gunn to make a fingertip save. With Portugal pushing more, Silva was not connected when Leao crossed the ball and Jota was not given space after a ball from Fernandes.
After the break, Ronaldo was replaced, and that greatly changed Portugal's course. Three minutes later, the perfectionist from Manchester United let a huge strike from 25 yards in, which had already been covered from its objective, 1-1.
Joao Felix was able to receive the ball from Ronaldo and shoot, but no thanks to Gunn. The goal was missed, and a few seconds later, Ronaldo's glancing header beat all but the goalkeeper and hit the upright, too. The Scottish keeper made a fierce save to stop Felix from adding to those two that he had hoped for on the follow-up.
However, in the eighty-eight minutes when Goncalo Guedes was carrying a ball, he made the ultimate goal with the defender defending, not knowing that Nuno Mendes was crossing the ball in the box and Ronaldo scored his poaching goal to settle the match.
