Ronaldo strikes late to seal Portugal win over Scotland

Cristiano Ronaldo’s late strike sealed Portugal’s 2-1 win over Scotland as the 901st goal of the striker’s extraordinary career completed a stirring fightback in Sunday’s Nations League clash.

Ronaldo had reached 900 career goals with his 131st international strike in Thursday’s victory over Croatia.

The 39-year-old showed no signs of being sated by that incredible milestone as he came off the bench to lift Portugal to their second successive win in Nations League Group A1.

The Estadio da Luz in Lisbon rose in unison to chant the relentless Al-Nassr forward’s name after he struck with two minutes to play.

On his 30th birthday, Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes fired Portugal’s second half equaliser after his former Old Trafford team-mate Scott McTominay gave Scotland a surprise early lead.

For Portugal boss Roberto Martinez, victory over Scotland could mean some awkward silences at his next family gathering.

Martinez met his wife Beth while playing for Scottish club Motherwell in 2001 and joked before the match he would be delighted to upset his father-in-law by beating Scotland.

He did exactly that, leaving Scotland still waiting for their first win over Portugal.

Beaten 3-2 by Poland at Hampden Park on Thursday, Scotland have won just once in 14 matches, a barren sequence that included their lacklustre failure to make it out of the group stage at Euro 2024.

Steve Clarke’s men have lost six of their nine matches in 2024, with their only victory coming in a friendly against Gibraltar in June.

“When you bring quality players from the bench like Roberto can do you always know there’s a risk,” Clarke said.

“I’m really disappointed for my players because I think they deserved to get something from the game.

“But with the amount of balls that go into the box, you know one of them can go in the back of the net and that’s what happened to us.”

– Ronaldo late show –

Scotland took a shock lead in the seventh minute when Kenny McLean’s superb cross picked out McTominay, who made a perfectly-timed run to plant his stooping header past Diogo Costa from six yards.

McTominay, who recently moved from United to Napoli, has 10 goals in his last 12 competitive appearances for Scotland.

Rafael Leao threatened an immediate equaliser with a driving run but his shot rippled into the side-netting.

Leao went even closer as he cut in from the left flank for a fierce drive that Angus Gunn pushed away at full stretch.

Antonio Silva wasted a chance created by Leao as he headed over from the AC Milan forward’s dinked cross.

As the Portugal pressure mounted, Gunn made a fine save after Diogo Jota connected with Fernandes’s incisive pass.

It was no surprise to see Ronaldo sent on for the second half and Portugal were immediately improved by his presence.

Taking aim from long-range in the 53rd minute, Fernandes’s 25-yard blast should have been routine for Gunn but his weak attempted save allowed the ball to squirm into the net.

Ronaldo’s audacious backheel gave Joao Felix a sight of goal, only for Gunn to make amends for his earlier error with an excellent stop.

Gunn saved again from Felix’s diving header before Ronaldo turned the rebound against the post.

In the next attack, Ronaldo’s glancing header hit the post and was clawed off the line by Gunn before Felix could convert.

Portugal’s late surge finally produced the winner in the 88th minute.

Nuno Mendes whipped a cross into the six-yard box, where Ronaldo was lurking to deliver the knockout blow with a typically predatory tap-in.

Ten-man Spain sink Switzerland in 4-1 romp

Spain grabbed their first win since lifting the Euro 2024 title by comprehensively beating Switzerland 4-1 in the Nations League in Geneva on Sunday, despite going down to 10 men.

Joselu scored a fourth-minute header and Fabian Ruiz struck Spain’s second in the 13th, before defender Robin Le Normand was sent off seven minutes later.

Zeki Amdouni pulled one back for Switzerland in the 41st minute to give the hosts hope.

However, Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Ruiz struck again in the 77th minute before substitute Ferran Torres delivered the coup de grace three minutes later.

“This team managed to win a historic match,” Spain manager Luis de la Fuente said afterwards.

“I am very proud of my players. The players are proud to represent our country. They are young players with a lot of qualities, with a lot of values and it helps us to improve and evolve.”

“I am very happy for all the players, especially Joselu. I am very fond of him.

“He is a player that I appreciate a lot. He always works very hard to help the team to improve. He had a great match and he did what we asked him to do with 11 players and with 10.”

Former Newcastle and Alaves striker Joselu, now playing at Al-Gharafa in Qatar, was impressed with the way Spain handled the match.

“Today’s game shows the level we are at,” he told reporters.

“We played a great game against a great team.

“The team showed their determination, showed their skill and in the end we got a very good result, very well deserved. We are proud of our work today.”

The rain-soaked match was a sell-out played before 26,265 fans at the Stade de Geneve, where the pitch remains in poor condition. The grass has been plagued by fungus, the holes covered with green paint.

Denmark lead the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League A Group 4 with six points after beating Serbia 2-0 in Copenhagen earlier Sunday.

Quick-fire start 

In their first match since beating England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final in July, Spain opened their Nations League title defence on Thursday with a frustrating goalless draw against Serbia in Belgrade.

Meanwhile, Switzerland had a disastrous night in Copenhagen, losing 2-0 to Denmark, with both captain Granit Xhaka and defender Nico Elvedi sent off.

Xhaka has a record 131 caps for his country and Switzerland manager Murat Yakin said the team missed the midfielder’s influence and experience against Spain.

“We really started being courageous and aggressive — and we were punished for that,” he said.

“We came back into the game, created chances, hit the bar. There should have been a penalty and then we risked everything in the last 20 minutes and we did not have luck on our side in the decisive moments of the game.”

Joselu got Spain off to a flying start, heading in Lamine Yamal’s  cross at the far post.

Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel made a diving stop but after a VAR check, the ball was deemed to have crossed the line.

Spain doubled their lead in the 13th minute.

Yamal sent Nico Williams bursting through and though his shot was saved by Kobel, Ruiz blasted in the rebound.

Spain’s last man Le Normand was sent off in the 20th minute for bundling over Breel Embolo outside the box. Amdouni rattled the crossbar with the  free kick.

Swiss caught out 

Switzerland struck shortly before the break. A corner from livewire Ruben Vargas was flicked on by Embolo, and Benfica striker Amdouni swept the ball in to set the Swiss fans rattling their cowbells in delight.

Spain kept the hosts at bay for most of the second half before putting the result beyond doubt.

Striker Torres, on for Barcelona team-mate Yamal, crossed from the byline for Ruiz who tapped in past the flat-footed Kobel.

Torres then surged through the middle on the breakaway before passing the ball beyond Kobel.

Collated UEFA Nations League results on Sunday:

League A Group 1

In Osijek

Croatia 1 (Modric 52) Poland 0

In Lisbon

Portugal 2 (Fernandes 54, Ronaldo 88) Scotland 1 (McTominey 7)

League A Group 4

In Copenhagen

Denmark 2 (Gronbaek 36, Poulsen 61) Serbia 0

In Geneva

Switzerland 1 (Amdouni 41) Spain 4 (Joselu 4, Ruiz 13, 77, Torres 80)

League C Group 1

In Kosice

Slovakia 2 (Duda 22-pen, Strelec 26) Azerbaijan 0

In Solna

Sweden 3 (Gyokeres 30, 44, Isak 40) Estonia 0

League C Group 3

In Plovdiv

Bulgaria 1 (Despodov 40) Northern Ireland 0

In Luxembourg

Luxembourg 0 Belarus 1 (Gromyko 76)

League D Group 1

In Gibraltar

Gibraltar 2 (Walker 8, Scanlon 90+7) Liechtenstein 2 (Saglam 53, Hasler 90+14-pen)