Vitinha unleashes second-half demolition job as Portugal beat Poland 5-1 in Porto

Portugal crushed Poland 5-1 this evening at the Estádio do Dragão to book their place in the Nations League quarter-finals as Group A1 winners.

The famous football saying “a game of two halves” could have been invented for this match. The Seleção’s sluggish, sloppy first 45 minutes contrasted sharply with a sparkling second half in which goals from Rafael Leão, Cristiano Ronaldo (x2), Bruno Fernandes and Pedro Neto overwhelmed the Poles, for whom Dominik Marczuk scored at the end of the match. consolation.

Vitinha, who came on at half-time, was the catalyst for change and proved tonight that he should be a starter in Roberto Martínez’s team. Tom Kundert reports.

Roberto Martínez stuck to the template that swept Poland so impressively last month in Warsaw, with just two changes to the starting XI chosen in Warsaw, with António Silva and João Neves replacing the injured Rúben Dias and Rúben. Nevis. Poland were without their star man and captain Robert Lewandowski, with the Barcelona striker suffering from a back problem.

Any hopes Portuguese fans may have entertained of a repeat of the recent swashbuckling display against the same opponents initially seemed unlikely to come true. On a rainy night in Porto, the Seleção were slow, low on energy, low on ideas and second best to a more cohesive Polish side in an unforgettable first half for the hosts.

Apart from an early opportunity for Portugal when Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva got in each other’s way, it was the visitors who did all the running.

Bereszynski headed a header straight at Diogo Costa from a promising position, Zalewski then forced the goalkeeper playing at his home stadium to make a save, before Bereszynski went close again, only a superb interception from Nuno Mendes avoiding what looked like to a certain goal.

Portugal’s players were growing nervous due to a series of injury stoppages and perceived referee errors instead of concentrating on their football, with Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo receiving yellow cards for overzealous protests.

Unlike recent matches, Nuno Mendes was unable to step forward to support the ousted Leão, and Poland looked ever more likely to break through. Piatek and Zielinski came close to scoring in quick succession, although Portugal’s last chance of the half fell when Ronaldo palmed Leão’s header over the bar from close range.

Martínez called on Vitinha for his PSG teammate João Neves for the restart and the former Porto midfielder immediately looked in mood at his old stomping ground.

Vitinha energized the Portuguese midfield with a series of timely interceptions and quick, progressive passes. Leão was close with a powerful shot from the edge of the area and it was clear the tide had turned, although Costa had to make a diving save in the 58th minute to divert Marczuk’s rasping shot around the post.

Just before the hour mark, Portugal scored as the Rafael Leão-Nuno Mendes combination came into action in devastating fashion. The Milanese collected the ball deep in the Portuguese defensive zone and launched into a high-speed dribble towards the opposite area, repelling several attempts by Polish players to stop him with good means or a foul. Leão placed the ball into the overlapping path of Mendes and continued his run, Mendes producing a cross which Leão headed into the net on the run. A great goal on the counter-attack.

Renato Veiga and Bruno Fernandes fired over the bar as Portugal continued their attacking momentum, and the pressure was on in the 71st minute when Diogo Dalot’s shot hit Kiwior’s hand and the referee pointed to the ‘place. Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up and produced a cheeky finish from Panenka to score his 134th goal for Portugal in the stadium where he scored his first ever for his country, against Greece at Euro 2004.

The game was now wide open, a brilliant run and dribble into the box from Zalewski giving Kiwior a great chance to halve Portugal’s lead, but Bernardo Silva did well to charge in the shot. The game moved to the other end of the field where Pedro Neto’s 20-yard shot resulted in a sharp save from Bulka.

Ronaldo then fired in from close range when he should have scored for the second time in the match, but the crowd quickly celebrated. The genesis of the goal was more excellent play from Vitinha who fed Bruno Fernandes, the Manchester United captain sending a 25-yard rocket into the net under the bar.

Bruno Fernandes celebrates after scoring his stunning long-range goal against Poland. Photo: FPF/Diogo Pinto

Portugal were now rampant and the score was soon 4-0, Cristiano Ronaldo delivering a fine assist to Pedro Neto to finish with a firm shot using his weaker right foot.

The fans loved it, the tedious first half is just a distant memory, and another spectacular moment adds to the festive atmosphere. Vitinha’s cross picked out Ronaldo, the captain turning back the years to cycle the ball past Bulka for goal number five.

Marczuk pulled one back for Poland with the fourth goal in a frenetic 9-minute period. Martínez sent on Lazio full-back Nuno Tavares in stoppage time on his Portugal debut.

“The first half was very bad, we were very frustrated, but the second half was as good as I’ve seen from our team,” the coach said after the match.

While Croatia lost in Scotland, Portugal won the group with a game to play and Martínez will surely select a heavily-rotated team against the Croatians in Split on Monday, giving lesser-used players an opportunity.

Portugal: Diogo Costa, Diogo Dalot, Renato Veiga, António Silva, Nuno Mendes (Nuno Tavares, 88′), Bruno Fernandes, João Neves (Vitinha, 46′), Pedro Neto (Francisco Trincão, 84′), Bernardo Silva (Samuel Costa, 76′), Rafael Leão (João Félix, 84′), Cristiano Ronaldo

Poland: Marcin Bulka, Kamil Piatkowski, Jan Bednarek (Sebastian Walukiewicz, 46′), Jakub Kiwior, Bartosz Bereszynski (Jakub Kaminski, 32′), Mateusz Bogusz (Dominik Marczuk, 46′), Taras Romanczuk, Piotr Zielinski, Nicola Zalewski, Krzysztof Piatek, Kacper Urbanski (Adam Buksa, 74′)

(1-0) Rafael Leão, 59′

(3-0) Bruno Fernandes, 80′