Poland 1-3 Portugal: Silva and Ronaldo on target as visitors stay perfect in Nations League

By Sports Desk October 12, 2024

Bernardo Silva and Cristiano Ronaldo's first-half goals ensured Portugal maintained their perfect Nations League record with a 3-1 victory over Poland.

The pair had put the visitors in control before Piotr Zielinski provided Poland with some late hope, only for Jan Bednarek's own goal to put the result beyond them.

The Selecao started brightly, with Ronaldo striking the underside of the bar before Bruno Fernandes saw a whipped effort palmed away from the top corner.

Silva found the opening 26 minutes in though – Fernandes nodded the ball down to the Manchester City man, who met it sweetly first time on the volley.

Rafael Leao raced in behind to hit a low shot across goal only to hit the far post shortly after, but Ronaldo was on hand to stretch out a leg and turn it home.

With 12 minutes of normal time remaining, Zielinski played a one-two with an off-balance Kacper Urbanski, before rifling a powerful effort past Diogo Costa.

But that proved nothing more than a consolation as Bednarek tried to stop Diogo Jota from reaching Nuno Mendes' cross, only to inadvertently turn it into his own net. 

Data Debrief: No stopping Portugal

Portugal have made a brilliant start to the latest Nations League campaign, and are so far the only team in League A with a 100% record after three games.

Ronaldo has now scored in all three of their matches so far, getting his goal in this game with his only shot on target (three shots overall), as he generated 1.43 expected goals (xG).

However, Fernandes also played his part, having more shots than anyone else on the field (five). He has also now contributed to goals in his last three Nations League appearances (one goal, two assists).

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