Manchester United midfielder, Bruno Fernandes scored twice to give Portugal a 2-0 victory over Uruguay last night and send them into the knock-out stages of the World Cup alongside France and Brazil.
Nine minutes into the second half, the Manchester United midfielder netted a cross-corner goal. He later added a penalty in stoppage time after Jose Maria Gimenez was penalised for handball.
The first pitch invader of the Qatar tournament appeared during the game at Doha’s magnificent 89,000-seat Lusail Stadium; the man carried rainbow flags and words of solidarity for Iranian and Ukrainian women.
As Portugal has already advanced from Group H, Uruguay must now defeat Ghana in order to have any chance of doing the same.
Both teams made three adjustments from their first games, with Portugal substituting veteran Pepe for the hurt Danilo Pereira, who sustained a shattered rib during practise.
As far as World Cup history is concerned, Pepe rose to the third-oldest outfield position.
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Portugal dominated the first half, hogging the ball and creating several chances, but without ever testing Uruguay goalkeeper Sergio Rochet.
Uruguay’s forwards, Edinson Cavani and Darwin Nunez were starved of the ball but the South Americans still had the best opportunity of the first period.
Rodrigo Bentancur picked the ball up in his own half and surged forwards, slipping between two defenders to find himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Diogo Costa, who spread himself well to save the midfielder’s shot.
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo was largely anonymous in the first 45 minutes but did delight fans with a shoulder pass to pick out William Carvalho, who volleyed over.
Fernandes created space for himself on the left and curled an inswinging cross into the mixer, with Ronaldo breaking the offside trap to attempt a glancing header.
As the ball nestled in the goal, Ronaldo wheeled away in celebration but FIFA decided he had not touched the ball, thus denying him a ninth World Cup goal, which would have put him level with Portuguese great Eusebio.
Uruguay coach Diego Alonso threw on forwards Maxi Gomez and Luis Suarez as the South Americans belatedly began to exert some pressure, and both came close to an equaliser.
Gomez’s rasping drive from 20 yards came back off the post with Costa beaten, while Suarez hit the side netting from close range.
With the 90 minutes almost up, Fernandes nutmegged Gimenez, whose trailing hand diverted the ball away from the midfielder and prevented him from finding himself one-on-one with Rochet.
Iranian referee Alireza Faghani awarded the spot-kick after a VAR check and Fernandes sent Rochet the wrong way after his signature hop, skip run-up.
He then almost completed a hat-trick but hit the post from 20 yards.