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The Portuguese midfielder saved the day for the Portuguese side with a last-gasp winning goal in their World Cup match against Ireland, after the Irish goalkeeper had kept out a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Match Summary

The Wolves midfielder found the net during injury time to secure a narrow victory, several seasons after the star striker had scored twice late on to overcome a resilient Ireland team.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men looked set to depart the Portuguese capital with a hard-fought point, but ultimately suffered defeat, despite regaining a good deal of honor with a gritty display that erased some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing loss in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the loss puts them staring down the barrel, with their initial trio of Group F matches having yielded only a solitary draw. They need to defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any chance of securing a playoff spot.

Key Incidents

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have secured Ireland a point when he superbly saved Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his trailing leg after Francisco Trincão’s shot had hit Dara O’Shea’s hand.
• Neves came to his side’s rescue in the opening moments of added time when he directed Trincão’s cross past the Irish goalkeeper.

Additional Group Outcomes

Portugal’s Group

Hungary enhanced their chances of qualifying by securing their first win with a two-goal victory over the Armenian side, moving above their opponents into second place behind the group leaders in Group F. Daniel Lukacs provided his team the lead in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber made sure of the points in late stoppage time.

England’s Group

The Serbian national team suffered a narrow loss at home to the Albanian squad, with the result meaning the Three Lions can now secure their qualification from their qualifying group by beating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker scored the only goal for his team with a neat volley in late added time.

The Latvian side difficulties in their group persisted as they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by the Andorran team. Ian Olivera found the net for the away side 12 minutes from time to claim them their first point of the qualifying campaign and prolong Latvia’s poor form to several matches.

Spain’s Group

The Spanish national team continued their dominant Group E run with a comfortable win over the Georgian side after strikes from a Spanish attacker and his teammate in Elche. The result extended the European champions’ flawless record in the qualifiers, having scored eleven strikes in three matches 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, Luis de la Fuente’s side demonstrated their superiority against a Georgia team that spent the majority of the game defending deep. Spain dominated the match with more than 80% possession, and Georgia did not have one shot on target or create a scoring opportunity, with only shot-stopper their keeper preventing a heavy defeat.

The scorer opened the scoring in the first half from a well-executed dead-ball move, and Oyarzabal wrapped up the victory in the 64th minute with a stunning set-piece after Mamardashvili had denied Ferran Torres’s spot-kick.

Other Scores

• The Turkish national team returned to winning ways with a comprehensive thrashing over Bulgaria to keep the pressure on Spain in their section. Real Madrid’s a young talent was one of the scorers.
• Italy boosted their prospects of at least reaching the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable victory away to the Estonian team, thanks to strikes from a forward, another attacker, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

Gennaro Gattuso said: “We’re not thinking about the group leaders or Israel. We know what we have to do.”

The Azzurri failed to qualify for the previous two global tournaments, twice missing out in the qualifying rounds, and the dreaded backdoor route now looks their most likely opportunity after Norway’s comprehensive hammering over the Israeli side in their qualifying group. The Norwegians are leading on eighteen points from six games. Italy have 12 points with a game in hand on their rivals and are three points clear of Israel. Estonia remain in fourth place on three points. The top teams advance automatically for the tournament, with the runners-up going into the playoffs.

The Italian national team host their rivals on Tuesday, where a victory would cement the runner-up position and, while they can still theoretically overtake Norway on points, the Norwegians’ much better goal ratio means a playoff spot likely awaits for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.