Published on : 09/06/2022 – 23:10
Lisbon (AFP) – Portugal beat the Czech Republic 2-0 and consolidated their lead at the top of Group B thanks to a great Bernardo Silva, author of two assists, Thursday in Lisbon for the third day of the League of Nations.
Manchester City full-back Joao Cancelo opened the scoring with a powerful dry shot (1-0, 33′) before Valencia winger Gonçalo Guedes made the break shortly following by crossing his shot (2- 0.38e).
The Portuguese initially experienced difficulties in finding the solution and concretizing their domination once morest a Czech block well grouped in defense. Only Cristiano Ronaldo framed a strike from the Lusitanian side in the first half hour, but his attempt was too crushed (10th).
Then the 2016 European champions moved up a gear. Cancelo asked Bernardo Silva on the right side who gave him the ball in the race in full surface: the side then fired a powerful shot to score the first goal, 100% made in Manchester City (1-0, 33rd).
Five minutes later, Bernardo Silva, once more him, launched Gonçalo Guedes in depth, the former Paris Saint-Germain player subtly crossing his shot from the right to give air to his team (2-0, 38th) .
Cristiano Ronaldo might have scored just before the break, the ball stung by the five-time Ballon d’Or ending just above (45th + 1).
Back from the locker room, the Portuguese managed their advantage by setting a low pace to the game.
Diogo Jota tried to add a third goal but the heavy strike from the Liverpool striker was released by the Czech goalkeeper, Jindrich Stanek, author of a fine save (61st).
At the end of this third day, Portugal increased its lead at the top of group B with 7 points. Spain moved into second place following beating Switzerland 1-0 in the evening and have 5 points.
The Czech Republic is in third place with 4 points while Switzerland closes the march without a single unit to its counter.
On Sunday, Portugal (8:45 p.m.) will travel to Geneva to face Switzerland there as part of the 4th day, while at the same time, Spain will receive the Czechs in Malaga.
© 2022 AFP
