Portugal required an own goal from Maksim Medvedev to help them to an unconvincing 1-0 triumph over Azerbaijan in their initial World Cup 2022 qualifying match in Turin.
The supreme European and Nations League champions overwhelmed ownership against Group A's base seeds on Wednesday however attempted to make some obvious possibilities. Azerbaijan captain Medvedev put into his own net eight minutes before half-time following a mistake with keeper Sahruddin Mahammadaliyev and that end up being the own goal.
Cristiano Ronaldo shot a third progressive dud for Portugal at Juventus' Allianz Stadium, where the game was being played due to Covid travel limitations, yet Fernando Santos' men eventually got the success.
Azerbaijan, the away side, had drawn their last four matches by a similar 0-0 scoreline and kept Portugal's assaulting shots calm for enormous wraps of the First half. Mahammadaliyev denied Ruben Neves and Joao Cancelo with hardly a pause in between, while Domingos Duarte terminated wide from five yards subsequent to cutting down a chipped pass from Ronaldo.
Be that as it may, Portugal's pressing factor told 37 minutes in when Mahammadaliyev hustled off his line and punched a cross into Medvedev, the ball taking off the Azerbaijan captain and streaming into the net.
Notwithstanding the entrance of Bruno Fernandes from the bench at half-time, the Selecao kept on working in the last third against a side positioned 108th in the FIFA rankings. Ronaldo was kept out by Mahammadaliyev on the volley and Bernardo Silva additionally tried the Azerbaijan keeper, yet Portugal couldn't add an exceptional second Goal.
This nearly proved costly 19 minutes from time as Anatolii Nuriev blazed over with plenty of the goal to aim for after stand-in keeper Anthony Lopes failed to deal with a ball into the box.
Post a Comment