Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal of the World Cup qualifying campaign to help Portugal steamroll Luxembourg.
Portugal picked up three points after defeating Luxembourg 3-1 despite conceding a goal in the first half.
The defending Euro winners got off to a sedate start to the World Cup qualifiers although they managed to win and draw in their first two games.
Diogo Jota continued his fine run after scoring the vital equaliser in the added minutes of the first half, cancelling out Gerson Rodrigues strike. The Wolves winger built on the brace-filled game against Serbia and is said to have garnered 8 goals in his first five starts with the national team.
Cristiano Ronaldo finally put an end to his scoring drought after netting the second goal for Portugal. The 36-year-old has been under the immense pressure of late and adding to it the disappointment caused by the denial of the winning goal against Serbia.
Joao Palhinha put the game to bed after coming off the bench as Portugal cruised to a 3-1 win. The 25-year-old midfielder scored his first goal in the competition. To make things worse, the hosts were reduced to ten men on the field after Chanot’s red card in the 86th minute. It also killed their hopes for coming back into the game.
Portugal’s comprehensive win must have eased some pressure off manager Fernando Santos as they wound off this week’s Qualifier games on a big note.
Line-ups
Luxembourg
Moris, M Pinto, L Gerson, M Chanot, L Jans, C Martins Pereira, O Thill, L Barreiro, V Thill, G Rodrigues, D Sinani
Substitutes
Luxemburgo: Enes Mahmutovic, Florian Bohnert, Timothe Rupil, Ralph Schon, Eldin Dzogovic, Maurice Deville, Aldin Skenderovic, Edvin Muratovic, Sebastien Thill, Marvin da Graça, Lucas Fox
Portugal
Anthony Lopes; João Cancelo, José Fonte, Rúben Dias e Nuno Mendes; Rúben Neves, Renato Sanches e Bernardo Silva; João Félix, Diogo Jota e Cristiano Ronaldo
Substitutes
José Sá, Luís Neto, Domingos Duarte, André Silva, João Palhinha. Sérgio Oliveira, Rafa Silva, Pedro Neto, Cedric Soares, Rui Silva
