Portugal defeated Switzerland by four unreplied goals at the Estadio Jose Alvalade to win for the first time in Group A2 of the new UEFA Nations League (UNL) campaign.
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Ronaldo denied hattrick as Portugal thrash Switzerland in first Nations League win
Cristiano Ronaldo extended his tally of international goals to 117 with his brace against Switzerland.
Cristiano Ronaldo extended his tally of international goals to 117 with his brace against Switzerland
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Cristiano Ronaldo was unstoppable in his return to his footballing birthplace, scoring twice in four minutes to hit a record 117 international goals.
Unstoppable Ronaldo sets ball rolling for Portugal
The visitors thought they had struck first after just six minutes when Benefica's Haris Seferovic scored from a Xherdan Shaqiri corner, but a VAR review revealed that Fabian Schar had handled the ball on delivery, cancelling the goal.
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Schar was then shown a yellow card for an unnecessary challenge on Porto playmaker Otavio near the edge of the box.
Ronaldo, blasted the resulting freekick, low through the wall after his trademark puff of his cheeks, only for Gregor Kobel to save his effort with a deflection off Kevin Mbabu's foot.
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Cristiano Ronaldo assisted one and scored two of Portugal's four goals
AFP
But in the blink of an eye, Portugal's frustration turned into elation when the rebound dropped to Carvalho, who scored his fifth international goal.
The floodgates erupted as Ronaldo made it 2-0 with a superb finish following a combination play from Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Jota.
With Portugal in complete control, Ronaldo's second goal came just four minutes later, when he tapped in a rebound after Jota's shot was mishandled by Kobel, putting the game out of reach before halftime.
Ronaldo denied a hat-trick
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Ronaldo thought he had scored a hat-trick against the Swiss, as he capped off another sweeping counterattack shortly after half-time.
Manchester City's Joao Cancelo also put his name on the scoresheet as Portugal won their first Nations League game of the campaign
AFP
The elation, however, was gone in seconds, as Otavio had strayed offside during the build-up, much to Ronaldo's dismay.
That didn't matter much, as Cancelo quickly made it 4-0 by nicking the ball off the onrushing Kobel's feet and passing into an empty net.
With Sunday's victory, Portugal has now lost only once in 14 Nations League games, and has won eight of the 13 games played at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in this century.
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