Poland 2-3 Portugal
This match was a tough one to predict, but only a few people probably expected a Portugal team without Cristiano Ronaldo to be this prolific in this UEFA Nations League match!
In place of their talismanic Ronaldo was a trio of Silvas bringing up the attack up front. While these three have proven themselves at club level, the absence of their star has made Poland vs Portugal predictions a little hazy.
However, it seemed like Fernando Santos’ men didn’t need their star striker, after all! Portugal did the job on their own and brought on one of more impressive UEFA Nations League 2018 results of the day.
Highlights of the game
The game started with Poland showing a lot of intention to score. Of course, the Portuguese were also going to be dangerous for the Poles throughout the game.
The rest of the early minutes of the game saw the football go from end to end. Portugal have made a number of threatening attacks in the Polish half despite their talisman’s absence, but the Poles’ hard-nosed defence made life difficult for their guests.
It was in an 18th-minute corner that the Stadion Slaski would see a goal. Rafal Kurzawa launched a corner from the right to the far-left post. Patricio, the guardian deity of a good Watford team, tried to catch the ball, but Robert Lewandowski was in his way. The ball found Krzysztof Piatek’s flying body, and the prolific Genoa striker headed the ball into the goal.
Portugal toiled through Poland’s defence in order to equalise. Bernardo Silva and Joao Cancelo was especially proactive in the attack to try and get the Seleccao back on track. The Poles were able to somehow keep Santos’ men away for a good chunk of the half.
Unfortunately, their lead was only kept until the 31st minute. Pizzi ran through the right and made a dangerous approach to the Polish goal. He made a quick pass to Andre Silva. The 22-year-old, who also scored against Italy, tapped the ball from close range and into the goal. There was nothing Lukasz Fabianski could do with the strike.
The game started tilting towards Portugal’s favour within the next ten minutes, but Piotr Zielinski and Robert Lewandowski tried pulling the momentum back in Poland’s favour. Lewandowski, who is getting hurtful words for his poor club form, was quiet for a good chunk of this match.
However, Portugal managed to end the half with a lead. Rafa Silva was able to get the ball past an out-of-line Fabianski after getting a long ball from Ruben Neves. The ball was destined for the net, and Kamil Glik made a daring challenge. However, the Monaco defender’s efforts ended in horror as his tackle ended up with him scoring an own goal.
The second half started with Jerzy Brzeczek’s men trying to get the game back on equal footing. However, the lack of a superb midfield presence is obvious in this squad as they are forced to settle for route-one football coming from the back. They weren’t able to do anything with their goals.
Things soon got worse for the Polish supporters when Portugal turned their two-goal deficit to three. Bernardo Silva ran up the right win in a blitzing counter-attack. Upon the approach of the penalty box, he suddenly cut to the middle and unleashed a shot to the left-hand side of the post. Fabianski was caught off guard, and the scattered Portugal fans in the stadium roared in delight.
It seemed like the game was over until Poland somehow made their direct passing play work in the 77th minute. An attack from the right saw Poland making a dangerous run with the ball. The ball flew to the box and subsequently cleared. Jakub Blaszczykowski then got to the ball and fired a first-time shot to the lower-right corner, just out of reach for Rui Patricio to save.
Renato Sanches almost sealed the game when he made his move in the 84th minute. He got a good through pass and cut through the defence. He beat Fabianski and was primed to score. Tomasz Kedziora was able to keep the game close with a last-gasp save of Sanches’ shot.
Bruno Fernandes also had a shot at making the final score 2-4 at the death when he received a good pass from Andre Silva to see nothing but an open goal. However, the Sporting midfielder got nervy and skied the ball.
That was to be the last real chance of the game as the referee soon blew his whistle after four minutes of extra time. While the Bialo-czerwoni put up a good fight against their guests, the Seleccao was just too good on the day.
Key statistics
Portugal are now building a slight lead in their head-to-head history against Poland after this victory. While the goals scored are still pretty close — Portugal have 14 while Poland are at 10 — this result should have given this Portugal team much-needed confidence when Ronaldo calls it quits on his international career.
Portugal had a better all-around game compared to their hosts. The Seleccao had 20 goal attempts with eight shots on target and five blocked shots. Both teams were playing physical defence: 26 fouls were committed through the 90 minutes, and referee Carlos Del Cerro had to pull out his yellow card six times.
What’s next?
The SBOBET tips for Portugal should be sky-high when they head up north to play Scotland at Hampden Park. I don’t see the Scots beating the Portuguese in any possible way, and we should check this off as another Portugal win.
Meanwhile, Poland will stay put at Stadion Slaski as Italy come to visit next. While Gli Azzurri haven’t won their last five games, the sheer quality of their players is something to be wary of.
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