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The Portuguese midfielder saved the day for the Portuguese side with a last-gasp decisive strike in their World Cup qualifying match against Ireland, following Caoimhín Kelleher had kept out a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Match Overview

The Wolves midfielder headed home during injury time to secure a 1-0 victory, four years after the star striker had bagged a brace late on to overcome a stubborn Irish side.

The Irish squad looked set to depart the Portuguese capital with a hard-fought draw, but ultimately suffered defeat, despite restoring a significant amount of honor with a gritty performance that overshadowed some of the recollections of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the defeat puts them facing elimination, with their initial trio of Group F games having produced only a solitary draw. They need to beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any hope of securing a qualifying spot.

Key Moments

• The Liverpool keeper looked to have secured Ireland a draw when he superbly kept out Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his outstretched foot after Francisco Trincão’s shot had hit an Irish defender’s hand.
• Neves came to his side’s rescue in the first minute of stoppage time when he directed a delivery from the wing past Kelleher.

Other Group Outcomes

Portugal’s Group

The Hungarian team boosted their chances of advancing by picking up their initial victory with a 2-0 triumph over Armenia, climbing above their rivals into the runner-up spot behind Portugal in the standings. Daniel Lukacs provided Hungary the advantage in the opening period and a teammate made sure of the victory in late stoppage time.

Group K

Serbia slipped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Albania, with the outcome meaning England can now seal their qualification from their qualifying group by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj netted the decisive strike for his team with a neat volley in late stoppage time.

Latvia struggles in their group persisted as they were held to a 2-2 tie at home by Andorra. Ian Olivera found the net for the visitors late on from time to claim them their initial draw of the qualifying campaign and extend Latvia’s winless run to five games.

Group E

Spain maintained their impressive qualifying group run with a comfortable win over the Georgian side after strikes from a Spanish attacker and his teammate in the match venue. The result continued the European champions’ flawless run in qualifying, having scored 11 goals in three games without letting in a goal.

Despite the absence of key figures such as Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, and the midfield anchor due to fitness issues, Luis de la Fuente’s side demonstrated their dominance against a Georgia team that spent most of the match defending deep. Spain dominated the match with more than 80% possession, and the visitors did not have a single attempt on target or create a clear chance, with only goalkeeper their keeper preventing a heavy defeat.

Pino opened the scoring in the 24th minute from a expertly taken set-piece move, and Oyarzabal secured the win in the second period with a spectacular set-piece after the Georgian keeper had saved Ferran Torres’s spot-kick.

Additional Results

• The Turkish national team bounced back with a 6-1 thrashing over Bulgaria to keep the pressure on the group leaders in their section. Real Madrid’s a young talent was among the goal-getters.
• The Italian squad improved their prospects of at least reaching the knockout stage with a 3-1 victory away to Estonia, thanks to goals from a forward, another attacker, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

The Italian coach commented: “We’re not thinking about the group leaders or Israel. We know our responsibilities.”

The Azzurri failed to qualify for the previous two global tournaments, twice missing out in the playoffs, and the feared playoff path now looks their primary chance after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 win over Israel in Group I. Norway are leading on eighteen points from six matches. The Italians have 12 points with a match less played on their competitors and are a trio of points ahead of Israel. Estonia remain fourth on three points. The top teams qualify directly for the World Cup, with the second-placed sides going into the qualifying stage.

Italy host Israel on Tuesday, where a win would cement the runner-up position and, while they can still theoretically overtake the group leaders on the table, the leaders’ much better goal ratio means a qualifying place probably awaits for the Italian squad.