14.11.2019 » Portugal 6-0 Lithuania. Ronaldo returns to scoring ways!
There were no surprises in the south of Portugal this Thursday night, as the Seleção hosted and defeated Lithuania with an expressive 6-0 win. In what was a quite magnificent exhibition of football from the hosts, Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed the opportunity to do what he does best and answered his critics with another hat-trick and a great performance. Most of the experts on Oddspedia had already predicted an easy win for Portugal and that's exactly what happened at the Estádio Algarve, with not only Ronaldo finding the back of the net, but also his teammates Pizzi, Gonçalo Paciência and Bernardo Silva celebrating a goal each. Next Sunday, the Portuguese Team travels to Luxembourg and a new victory in foreign soil will secure the qualification to next summer's EURO 2020.
Cristiano Ronaldo game photos in Portugal vs Lithuania
Portugal 6-0 Lithuania - Goals and highlights:
All Cristiano Ronaldo actions vs Lithuania:
A brilliant first-half
We're obviously aware that the opponent in front wasn't exactly an European giant, but had Portugal played with the same quality and intensity in previous qualifiers and they would have certainly secured the 1st place in their group. Nevertheless, tonight's win allows the Seleção to be one step closer of their main objective, which is being present in the EURO 2020. A win against Luxembourg in 3-days time will immediately secure the ticket to the tournament's finals next summer, as Serbia remains on the chase walking into Group B's last round of fixtures, just 1 point behind Fernando Santos' men.
The opener arrived very early in the game and whenever that happens in games like these, it's usually a trigger for what's coming ahead: a series of goals. With just 7 minutes played in the first half, Cristiano Ronaldo got clipped inside the box and easily converted his penalty-kick to put Portugal on the winning track. No better way to start a game than having your best player leading you to the victory...
The second goal of the night was once again signed by the Juventus man, Cristiano Ronaldo. This time, the 34-year old forward curled his shot from well outside the box, following an assist from his teammate, Gonçalo Paciência. The visitors lost possession in a forbidden area of the pitch and against players of this caliber, they were forced to pay and Portugal found themselves 2 goals up.
A goal-fest in the second half
With the scoreline at 2-0 in Portugal's favor at half-time, almost everyone realized that the most difficult part of tonight's job had already been done. Still, there were plenty of motives to keep pushing forward and one of them had precisely to do with Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese legend, who is getting closer to Ali Daei's 109 goal-record, sees every game as an opportunity to close the gap and tonight was no exception.
The 3-0 was delivered by Pizzi in the 52nd minute, with the Benfica midfielder striking the ball from the right and seeing his shot touch the posts twice before going in. It was his 3rd goal for the Portuguese National Team, his first since 2017. Four minutes later, it was time for Gonçalo Paciência to make his debut scoring for his nation, finishing off a rebound from a Bernardo Silva shot, just a few meters away from the goal line.
In the 63rd minute, Bernardo Silva made sure he wouldn't miss the party in the scoresheet and after receiving a pass from Ricardo Pereira on the right, he delivered a great finish by finding the back of the net with a left-footed strike. The Manchester City midfielder, who has been in great form for both club and country this season, continues cementing his status as a crucial and highly influential player for the Portuguese National Team.
The last goal of the night was the result of a good combination between Bernardo Silva and Cristiano Ronaldo on the left side of the attack, with the Juventus forward receiving his teammate pass inside the box and easily finishing it off using his right foot. With this hat-trick, the Portuguese star has now reached 98 goals for Portugal and is only 11 goals behind the current record holder, Ali Daei.
Portugal line-up vs Lithuania:
Goalkeeper: Rui Patrício
Defenders: Mário Rui, Rúben Dias, José Fonte, Ricardo
Midfielders: Rúben Neves, Bruno Fernandes, Pizzi, Bernardo Silva
Attackers: Gonçalo Paciência, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Match stats provided by www.ronaldo7.net
|
||
|---|---|---|
Portugal
|
vs
|
Lithuania
|
6 |
Goals |
0 |
32 |
Shots |
2 |
13 |
Shots on goal |
0 |
12 |
Corner kicks |
1 |
11 |
Fouls commited |
9 |
0 |
Yellow cards |
2 |
0 |
Red cards |
0 |
71% |
Ball possession |
29% |
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Portugal in the EURO 2020 Qualifiers is on November 17, against Luxembourg. You can watch Luxembourg vs Portugal, USA vs Canada, Spain vs Malta, Bosnia vs Italy, Brazil vs Argentina, and Romania vs Sweden, all matches provided from our soccer live game pages.
Portugal next game:
Luxembourg vs Portugal kick-off time (17-11-2019):
Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+8: 22:00
Jakarta (Indonesia) | UTC/GMT+7: 21:00
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+5.30: 19:30
Italy (Turin) | UTC/GMT+1: 15:00
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+1: 15:00
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+0: 14:00
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-3: 11:00
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-4: 10:00
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-7: 07:00
Sources: ronaldo7.net / uefa.com / sports.yahoo.com / washingtonpost.com
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