Portugal (without Cristiano Ronaldo) ice Norway towards isolated leadership

Athat's another win from the quinas team. Portugal again won in the League of Nations, beating Norway's counterpart on Sunday night by 1-2 in a game that was valid for the second round of the A4 group of the competition.

 
In a match that did not count on the presence in the field of Cristiano Ronaldo, the team of quinas won with a goal of João Félix, which scored for the second game followed, and Gonçalo Ramos already in the second half. In the middle, Erling Haaland scored for the Nordics.

Portugal follows, thus, in the isolated leadership of the six-point table, gaining an important advantage for the difficult duel with Denmark on the next journey.

Game movie:

To the surprise of some and not so many others, George Jesus made four changes compared to the team that beat Wales last Thursday. Cristiano Ronaldo went to the bench as well as Reuben Neves, Vitinha and Bruno Fernandes. For their places came João Palhinha, João Neves and Francisco Conceição. Aursnes and Schjederup were in the Nordics.

In a game of great intensity at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, Norway was the first team to create danger on the frozen Nordic night. At 10 minutes, an important cut from Reuben Dias prevented Erling Haaland from shooting in the area. Shortly thereafter, Chico Conceição took a well-measured intersection to the second pole, where João Neves appeared, who headed next door.

Haaland, the great figure on the Nordic side, gave the first warning signal over minute 14. In the first duel with Diogo Costa, the Norwegian advance appeared in the face of the goal... but avoided with his right leg the goal of the front. On the other hand, there really were reasons to celebrate. After Nuno Mendes won a midfield jump, the ball reached Pedro Neto. The front man placed at the entrance of the area, where John Felix appeared to make a pass to the goal and break the null at 17 minutes.

From there, the Norwegians began to discover the paths to the national goal and the Portuguese power stations, as well as Diogo Costa, were fundamental for the team of the quinas to be in advantage for the interval time. At 24 minutes, and in a mistake by Diogo Costa that could have been fatal, the Portuguese guardian complicated by trying to grab a cross of Odegaard, the ball left for Haaland and Reuben Dias was the one who came to catch a shot that carried a goal seal.

On top of the half-hour game, Francisco Conceição had 0-2 on his feet in Oslo. The Juventus player shot slightly next door, before again warning from Haaland. After winning the duel to João Cancelo, Nusa crossed into the dangerous headage from the front to the second pole, but the Portuguese goalkeeper swerved to the corner. Closing the first part, Nusa tried her luck, but the attempt came out over the goal.

The usual monster... and the Portuguese gunman

Norway had repeatedly threatened the goal in the first part and even ended up equalizing the dispute at the start of the additional stage. After Diogo Costa having defended with category a direct free charge by Andreas Schjelerup, Berg headed for the usual Haaland suspect, who does the 1-1 at 54 minutes.

What the Nordics didn't expect was a prompt response from the Portuguese... and at the expense of a mistake of their own. Nyland tried to play, but Gonçalo Ramos intercepted the pass and made a nice hat to replace Portugal to lead the scorer at 55 minutes. There followed a shot by Rafael Leão who touched the beam and that Ramos could not deviate. The player of AC Milan bisou in the match at 59’... but the goal was cancelled due to an out-of-game millimetric.

Leading the marker, Portugal retreated lines and Norway grew in search of the attempt at equality. At 78 minutes, Schjelderup tried his hat on Diogo Costa, who eventually drove away. Shortly thereafter, Bernardo Silva played the last replacement, which made Cristiano Ronaldo not the game. Until the end, the team of quinas managed to suffer to win the three points.

Accounts made, Portugal leads the table with six points, plus three more than Norway and Denmark, which is the next opponent of the team of quinas.

Game Moment: Gonçalo Ramos' hat, in response to Erling Haaland's goal, was key to Portugal's victory in Oslo.