Nations League: Spain snatch finals spot from Portugal, Ireland avert humiliation
Nations League: Spain snatch finals spot from Portugal, Ireland avert humiliation. A late goal from lvaro Morata gave Spain a 1-0 victory against Portugal in Braga, clinching first place in their group and a berth in the semifinals of the Nations League.
Despite Portugal’s dominance, Spain kept fighting until the 88th minute, when Nico Williams headed a long ball into the box from Dani Carvajal over to Morata, who slammed it into the net to the deafening applause of the sold-out crowd.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s goalless streak with the Portuguese national team now stands at three games after he missed a late penalty kick.
It was Spain’s first competitive away win against Portugal since a 2-1 World Cup qualifying victory in 1934, and their first win in Portugal in nearly two decades, since a friendly in 2003.
Spain won League A Group 2 with 11 points after playing six games, while Portugal came in second with 10 points and advanced to the semifinals with a tie. The Spaniards will compete in the 2019 finals alongside Croatia, Italy, and the Netherlands.
Score
After beating Armenia 3-2, the Republic of Ireland was spared from playing in the third division. The first goal was scored by John Egan with a header, while Michael Obafemi scored the second from a long distance with a low shot.
After the Armenians scored twice in as many minutes, the Irish were on the verge of disgrace. However, a penalty kick from Robbie Brady in overtime calmed the crowd in Dublin. Because of the aftermath from the late penalty judgment, two Armenian players were sent off.
The loss to Greece (3-1) in Athens was Northern Ireland’s third in a disappointing Nations League season; they avoided the relegation play-off only because Kosovo crushed Cyprus (5-1).
In the 14th minute, Dimitrios Pelkas scored for Greece, but Shayne Lavery equalized right away. However, Greece regained the lead early in the second half thanks to Giorgos Masouras, and a superb shot from Petros Mantalos sealed the victory 10 minutes later.
Stadium
The 976 traveling fans gathering behind Ian Baraclough’s bench at the Georgios Kamaras Stadium made their feelings known, with some booing the manager at the final whistle, making it a less-than-fitting occasion for Jonny Evans’ 100th cap.
Northern Ireland avoided relegation, but their third-place finish in League C Group 2 could imply a difficult draw in the upcoming Euro 2024 qualification round, which kicks off in March.
With the help of a magnificent volley from Benjamin Sesko in the first half, Slovenia earned a 1-1 draw away to Sweden in League B Group 4, sending the hosts down after a miserable season in which they went winless in four of their six contests.
Victory
The visitors took the lead in the 28th minute when Sesko blasted a left-footed volley into the back of the net. Still, the Swedes responded three minutes before halftime when Emil Forsberg scored a spectacular solo goal to draw the teams even.
The Swedes needed a victory to keep their season alive, so they went all out. However, their attack fell woefully short, as it had so often throughout the competition, and the game ended in a tie.
With a 2-0 victory over Norway, Serbia topped League B Group 4 and earned a promotion to League A, largely thanks to a goal from Aleksandar Mitrovic, who now has 50 goals for his country.
The home team nearly got off to a great start when Erling Haaland took a first-time shot in just 20 seconds, but Vanja Milinkovic-Savic made a fantastic stop.
The visitors took the lead through Dusan Vlahovic in the 42nd minute, and nine minutes into the second half, Mitrovic, already Serbia’s record scorer, scored a goal off of an assist from Ivan Ilic to put his team up 2-0.
League
Remo Freuler and Breel Embolo scored within a minute to give Switzerland a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic at Kybunpark and eliminate the Czechs from Nations League A.
On 29 minutes, Freuler scored from an Xherdan Shaqiri cross with a header. Immediately after the ensuing kickoff, Embolo pounced on a stray ball, dribbling outside the box, and buried a low effort into the bottom corner.
Patrik Schick scored with his left foot off a cross from David Zima just before halftime to cut the lead in half for the visitors, but Yann Sommer saved a penalty from Tomas Soucek later in a challenging night for the visitors, who also hit the post twice.