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The Portuguese midfielder saved the day for the Portuguese side with a last-gasp winner in their World Cup qualifying encounter against the Republic of Ireland, following the Irish goalkeeper had denied a penalty from the veteran forward.

Match Overview

The Wolves midfielder found the net during stoppage time to secure a slender win, several seasons after Ronaldo had bagged a brace at the death to overcome a stubborn Ireland team.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to depart the Portuguese capital with a hard-fought draw, but in the end left empty-handed, despite regaining a good deal of honor with a gritty display that overshadowed some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the defeat puts them in a difficult position, with their first three Group F games having produced only a solitary draw. They need to defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any hope of claiming a qualifying place.

Major Incidents

• Kelleher seemed to have secured Ireland a point when he brilliantly kept out Ronaldo’s penalty with his outstretched foot after Francisco Trincão’s shot had hit Dara O’Shea’s arm.
• The match-winner came to his side’s rescue in the first minute of stoppage time when he headed Trincão’s cross past Kelleher.

Other Qualifying Outcomes

Portugal’s Group

The Hungarian team boosted their hopes of advancing by picking up their first win with a 2-0 triumph over the Armenian side, climbing above their rivals into the runner-up spot behind the group leaders in the standings. A Hungarian forward provided his team the advantage in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber made sure of the victory in second-half stoppage time.

Group K

The Serbian national team slipped to a narrow loss at home to the Albanian squad, with the outcome meaning the Three Lions can now seal their passage from their qualifying group by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker scored the decisive strike for his team with a neat volley in late added time.

Latvia difficulties in Group K persisted as they were held to a two-all tie at home by the Andorran team. Ian Olivera scored for the away side late on from time to earn them their initial draw of the qualifying campaign and extend Latvia’s poor form to five games.

Spain’s Group

The Spanish national team continued their impressive qualifying group run with a comfortable win over Georgia after goals from a Spanish attacker and Mikel Oyarzabal in Elche. The result continued the European champions’ perfect record in qualifying, having scored eleven strikes in three matches without letting in a goal.

Despite the unavailability of players such as Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, and Rodri due to injuries, the Spanish squad showcased their dominance against a Georgian team that passed most of the match sitting back. The home side dominated the match with over eighty percent of the ball, and the visitors did not have one shot on target or create a clear chance, with only shot-stopper their keeper averting a heavy defeat.

The scorer broke the deadlock in the first half from a well-executed dead-ball routine, and Oyarzabal secured the victory in the 64th minute with a spectacular free kick after Mamardashvili had denied Ferran Torres’s spot-kick.

Additional Results

• Turkey bounced back with a 6-1 thrashing over the Bulgarian side to stay close to Spain in Group E. Real Madrid’s Arda Güler was one of the scorers.
• Italy boosted their prospects of at least making the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable victory away to the Estonian team, thanks to strikes from Moise Kean, another attacker, and a third scorer.

The Italian coach said: “We’re not thinking about Norway or our next opponents. We know what we have to do.”

Italy failed to qualify for the last two global tournaments, twice missing out in the qualifying rounds, and the feared backdoor route now looks their primary chance after Norway’s comprehensive hammering over the Israeli side in Group I. The Norwegians are top on eighteen points from six games. Italy have 12 points with a game in hand on their competitors and are a trio of points clear of Israel. The Estonian squad stay fourth on three points. The top teams qualify directly for the World Cup, with the runners-up going into the qualifying stage.

Italy host their rivals on Tuesday, where a win would cement second spot and, while they can still mathematically catch Norway on the table, the Norwegians’ far superior goal difference means a qualifying place likely awaits for the Italian squad.