Late Strike from Neves Sinks Ireland Following Caoimhín Kelleher Denies Cristiano Ronaldo Spot-Kick

Rúben Neves saved the day for the Portuguese side with a last-gasp winning goal in their World Cup encounter against the Republic of Ireland, after Caoimhín Kelleher had saved a spot-kick from the veteran forward.

Game Overview

The Wolves midfielder headed home during stoppage time to snatch a narrow victory, several seasons after the star striker had bagged a brace at the death to overcome a resilient Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to depart the Portuguese capital with a well-earned point, but in the end suffered defeat, despite regaining a significant amount of pride with a gritty display that erased some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing loss in Armenia.

However, the defeat leaves them facing elimination, with their first three qualifying group matches having produced only a solitary draw. They must defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any chance of securing a playoff spot.

Major Moments

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have earned Ireland a point when he superbly saved Ronaldo’s penalty with his outstretched foot after Francisco Trincão’s effort had hit an Irish defender’s hand.
• The match-winner came to his side’s rescue in the opening moments of added time when he headed a delivery from the wing past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Group Outcomes

Portugal’s Group

The Hungarian team enhanced their hopes of advancing by picking up their initial victory with a two-goal victory over Armenia, moving above their rivals into second place behind the group leaders in the standings. Daniel Lukacs provided his team the lead in the first half and Zsombor Gruber secured the points in second-half stoppage time.

England’s Group

Serbia suffered a narrow defeat at home to Albania, with the result meaning England can now seal their qualification from Group K by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj scored the decisive strike for his team with a well-taken volley in first-half added time.

Latvia difficulties in Group K persisted as they were held to a 2-2 tie at home by the Andorran team. An Andorran player found the net for the visitors 12 minutes from time to claim them their first point of the qualifying campaign and extend Latvia’s winless run to several matches.

Group E

The Spanish national team continued their impressive qualifying group run with a comfortable win over Georgia after strikes from a Spanish attacker and Mikel Oyarzabal in Elche. The result continued the title holders’ perfect record in the qualifiers, having scored 11 goals in three matches without letting in a goal.

Despite the unavailability of players such as Lamine Yamal, another forward, and Rodri due to fitness issues, the Spanish squad demonstrated their dominance against a Georgia team that spent most of the match defending deep. Spain dominated the encounter with more than 80% possession, and the visitors did not have one shot on target or generate a scoring opportunity, with only shot-stopper their keeper preventing a rout.

Pino broke the deadlock in the 24th minute from a expertly taken dead-ball move, and his compatriot secured the victory in the 64th minute with a spectacular set-piece after the Georgian keeper had denied Ferran Torres’s spot-kick.

Other Scores

• Turkey bounced back with a comprehensive victory over Bulgaria to stay close to the group leaders in Group E. The Spanish club’s a young talent was one of the scorers.
• Italy improved their hopes of at least making the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable win away to Estonia, thanks to goals from a forward, another attacker, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

The Italian coach said: “Our focus isn’t on the group leaders or our next opponents. We know our responsibilities.”

Italy missed out for the last two World Cups, twice missing out in the qualifying rounds, and the feared playoff path now appears their primary chance after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 win over Israel in their qualifying group. The Norwegians are top on 18 points from six matches. The Italians have 12 points with a match less played on their rivals and are a trio of points ahead of their next opponents. Estonia remain in fourth place on three points. The group winners advance automatically for the World Cup, with the runners-up entering the playoffs.

Italy face Israel on Tuesday, where a win would cement the runner-up position and, while they can still theoretically overtake the group leaders on points, the leaders’ far superior goal ratio means a qualifying place probably beckons for the Italian squad.