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03.09.2017 » Hungary 0-1 Portugal. André Silva sticks the dagger in Budapest
It was a key game for Portugal in their qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the final score pretty much tells us how tough their mission was tonight. Fernando Santos' men travelled to Budapest to face Hungary and they've defeated the hosts with a narrow 1-0 win that secured the vital 3 points to stay on Switzerland's tail on the top of Group B. The only goal in this game came by AC Milan's new signing André Silva, who finished off a perfect cross from Cristiano Ronaldo to the far post.
Cristiano Ronaldo game photos in Hungary vs Portugal
Hungary 0-1 Portugal - Goals and highlights:
All Cristiano Ronaldo actions vs Hungary:
Fernando Santos made only 3 changes to his starting lineup ahead of tonight's clash against Hungary, bringing on Fábio Coentrão for Eliseu, even though the former Benfica and Real Madrid defender got injured in the first half and was forced to leave the game. Bruno Alves also made his way into the starting eleven, replacing West Ham's central defender José Fonte. The third change was Gélson Martins, who replaced Manchester City's new signing Bernardo Silva in an attacking supporting role.
With Hungary sitting in Group B's third place, 8 points behind Portugal and virtually out of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia next year, one would expect for a less intense and disputed game than the one we've seen tonight in Budapest. The hosts seem to have approached this game as if it as a "win or die" playoff game and they really brought a tough fight to Portugal in home soil.
Portugal started the game firing in all cylinders, creating chance after chance and pushing Hungary back to their own half of the pitch. The hosts were struggling to keep possession and get near Portugal's box and the only way they found to make this game a bit more competitive was by increasing their aggressiveness levels to a dangerous limit. That turned out to cost them one man around the 30th minute of the first half, when Priskin got sent off for elbowing Pepe in the face. From that moment on, Portugal knew they would have to play a patient and even smarter game than they had planned initially...
And so it was... The European champions displayed a good passing game most of the times, even though they struggled a bit more to create clear cut chances against a side who had decided to park the bus tackling hard everytime they had an opportunity to do so. Nevertheless, they weren't able to hold on Portugal's impetus right after the break, when André Silva scored the decisive goal following a pinpoint cross from Cristiano Ronaldo on the left. The Real Madrid forward basically spotted his teammate on the far post and brilliantly served him the winning goal on a silver platter. 1-0 for Portugal and what an important goal that turned out to be...
There was still plenty of time left to be played, but Portugal seems to have opted to control the game more than rushing things to go after a second goal. Sometimes that plan can easily go south, but tonight it worked just fine and the Selecção managed to hold on to the lead and bring home the 3 points. Just 2 games left for Portugal in Group B, first an away fixture against Andorra (October 7) and then a true final against Switzerland (October 10), in a game that will most likely decide who finishes the group in first place and qualifies for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Portugal line-up vs Hungary:
Goalkeeper: Rui Patrício
Defenders: Fábio Coentrão, Bruno Alves, Pepe, Cédric Soares
Midfielders: William Carvalho, João Moutinho, João Mário, Gélson Martins
Attackers: André Silva, Cristiano Ronaldo.
| Match stats provided by www.ronaldo7.net
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|---|---|---|
Hungary
|
vs
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Portugal
|
0 |
Goals |
1 |
8 |
Shots |
24 |
1 |
Shots on goal |
4 |
1 |
Corner kicks |
11 |
14 |
Fouls commited |
7 |
4 |
Yellow cards |
1 |
1 |
Red cards |
0 |
27% |
Ball possession |
73% |
Cristiano Ronaldo next game is for Portugal on September 3 of 2017 against Hungary. You can watch Juventus live stream, Hungary vs Portugal, Liechenstein vs Spain, England vs Slovakia, Scotland vs Malta, and Germany vs Norway, all matches provided from our live streaming game pages.
Portugal next game:
Hungary vs Portugal kick-off time (03-09-2017):
Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+8: 02:45
Jakarta (Indonesia) | UTC/GMT+7: 01:45
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+5.30: 00:15
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+2: 20:45
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+1: 19:45
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-3: 15:45
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-4: 14:45
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-7: 11:45
Sources: ronaldo7.net / as.com / mirror.co.uk / usatoday.com
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