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Rúben Neves was the hero for Portugal with a injury-time winner in their World Cup qualifying match against Ireland, following Caoimhín Kelleher had denied a spot-kick from the veteran forward.

Game Overview

Neves found the net during stoppage time to snatch a 1-0 victory, four years after Ronaldo had bagged a brace late on to defeat a resilient Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to depart the Portuguese capital with a hard-fought point, but in the end left empty-handed, despite restoring a significant amount of pride with a gritty performance that overshadowed some of the recollections of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the defeat leaves them in a difficult position, with their first three qualifying group matches having yielded only a single point. They need to defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any chance of securing a qualifying spot.

Major Moments

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have secured Ireland a draw when he brilliantly kept out Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his trailing leg after a Portuguese player’s shot had hit Dara O’Shea’s arm.
• Neves saved Portugal in the first minute of stoppage time when he directed a delivery from the wing past the Irish goalkeeper.

Additional Group Outcomes

Group F

Hungary enhanced their chances of qualifying by picking up their first win with a two-goal triumph over the Armenian side, moving above their rivals into the runner-up spot behind Portugal in the standings. A Hungarian forward provided his team the advantage in the opening period and a teammate made sure of the victory in late stoppage time.

Group K

The Serbian national team slipped to a narrow loss at home to the Albanian squad, with the outcome meaning the Three Lions can now seal their qualification from Group K by beating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker scored the decisive strike for his team with a neat volley in late stoppage time.

Latvia struggles in Group K persisted as they were held to a two-all draw at home by Andorra. Ian Olivera scored for the visitors late on from time to claim them their initial draw of the qualifying campaign and extend Latvia’s poor form to several matches.

Group E

Spain maintained their impressive qualifying group run with a comfortable win over Georgia after goals from Jéremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal in the match venue. The result continued the European champions’ flawless record in qualifying, having scored eleven strikes in three games without letting in a goal.

In spite of the absence of key figures such as a talented winger, another forward, and Rodri due to fitness issues, the Spanish squad showcased their superiority against a Georgia team that spent most of the match sitting back. The home side controlled the match with more than 80% of the ball, and the visitors did not have a single attempt on target or create a clear chance, with only shot-stopper Giorgi Mamardashvili averting a heavy defeat.

The scorer opened the scoring in the 24th minute from a expertly taken set-piece move, and Oyarzabal secured the victory in the second period with a stunning set-piece after Mamardashvili had saved Ferran Torres’s penalty.

Additional Scores

• Turkey returned to winning ways with a 6-1 thrashing over the Bulgarian side to keep the pressure on the group leaders in Group E. The Spanish club’s Arda Güler was one of the scorers.
• Italy improved their hopes of at least reaching the qualifying playoffs with a 3-1 victory away to Estonia, thanks to strikes from Moise Kean, another attacker, and a third scorer.

Gennaro Gattuso commented: “We’re not thinking about Norway or Israel. We are aware of what we have to do.”

Italy missed out for the last two World Cups, twice falling short in the playoffs, and the dreaded playoff path now looks their most likely chance after Norway’s 5-0 win over the Israeli side in Group I. Norway are top on eighteen points from six games. Italy have 12 points with a match less played on their competitors and are three points clear of Israel. Estonia remain fourth on three points. The top teams qualify directly for the World Cup, with the runners-up entering the qualifying stage.

Italy face their rivals on Tuesday, where a victory would cement second spot and, while they can still theoretically catch the group leaders on the table, the leaders’ far superior goal ratio means a qualifying place likely awaits for the Italian squad.