Portugal looked on their way to a draw against Armenia, but Cristiano Ronaldo came to the rescue with 18 minutes left to play. The Real Madrid striker took advantage of a goalkeeping error and scored the match winner with a close range tap-in to earn three points for the Portuguese.
Portugal vs. Armenia: Final score 1-0, Ronaldo saves Portugal with a late goal
Portugal got a much-needed win over Armenia, but they didn’t look particularly impressive in the process.
Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
The story of the first half between Portugal and Armenia was one of no goals, physical play and some decent chances for both sides. Portugal were the dominant side when it came to possession, but that didn’t stop Armenia from looking dangerous on the counter attack. There were also several terrible challenges by players that strangely went unpunished by the referee. It was not a pretty half of football to be sure.
Dani made a nuisance of himself a couple times for Portugal, but the best chance of the half came from Armenia’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan who brilliantly curled a free kick through the Portuguese wall, only to be denied by an equally brilliant save from Rui Patrício.
Just when it appeared that Portugal might be held to a draw, Ronaldo took advantage of a big mistake by Roman Berezovsky to take a 1-0 lead. The Armenian keeper, for reasons known only to him, blocked down a short-range shot from Ricardo Quaresma, rather than catching it. In the process, he left a massive rebound right in front of the goal that Ronaldo was all too happy to put into the empty net.
The win moves Portugal in second place in Group I for now, one point behind Denmark.
Portugal: Patrício, Carvalho, Pepe, Bosingwa, Guerreiro, Tiago, Nani (William 88’), Danni (Ricardo Quaresma 70’), Mountinho, Ronaldo, Postiga (Éder 53’)
Goals: Ronaldo (72’)
Armenia: Berezovskiy, Arzumanyan, Haroyan, Yedigaryan (Sarkisov 77’), Ghazaryan (Manucharyan 62’), Mkhitaryan, Mrktchyan (Pizzelli 84’), Hayrapetyan, Hovhannisyan, Viskanyan, Movsisyan
Goals: None
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