Portugal beat Uruguay 2-0 to qualify for the 2022 World Cup Round of 16 | OneFootball

Portugal made it back to back wins at the 2022 World Cup after a 2-0 victory against Uruguay at Lusail Iconic Stadium.

The Seleção bossed the first half but needed Diogo Costa to make an important save after Rodrigo Bentancur had surged into the box.

Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring in the 52nd minute with a cross that evaded both Ronaldo and Sergio Rochet.

The game opened up as Diego Alonso went for broke, Maximiliano Gómez hitting the post in the 75th minute.

Portugal held their nerve and deservedly put the game to bed in the 92nd minute when Fernandes won and converted a penalty. Fernando Santos’ side have a three point lead over Ghana with Korea Republic their final opponents in Group H.

PortuGOAL’s Matthew Marshall reports from Lusail

No surprises from Santos

Fernando Santos made three changes to his starting side, Pepe back in central defence for Danilo, Nuno Mendes replacing Raphaël Guerreiro at left back and William coming into midfield for Otávio.

Portugal were the better team in the opening stages, Nuno Mendes’ long throw found Ronaldo, the crowd favourite setting up William who volleyed high and wide.

Rodrigo Bentancur was clearly Uruguay’s primary disruptor, pressing high and earning an early booking after a cheap and nasty foul on Rúben Dias.

Uruguay’s game plan was to constantly get physical and commit tactical fouls, José Giménez shadowing João Félix in an attempt to rattle and frustrate the 23-year-old.

Félix saw his shot deflected over the bar as the Seleção were dominating possession but unable to test Sergio Rochet.

Costa to the rescue

The South American side were not getting anywhere near Diogo Costa but that all changed in the 32nd minute. Rodrigo Bentancur surged forward from inside his own half, slaloming his way through Dias and William with Costa coming off his line to make an important save.

Rúben Neves was booked for a cynical foul on Guillermo Varela as La Celeste threatened to turn the tide.

Portugal were dealt a bad blow in the 42nd minute when Nuno Mendes’ muscle injury that ruled him out of the Ghana match appeared to return. The 20-year-old left-back was in tears as he made his way off the pitch to be replaced by Raphaël Guerreiro.

Mathías Olivera was booked for preventing Bruno Fernandes taking a quick free kick, the last piece of action in the first half.

Uruguay continued with the cheap shots in the second half, encouraged by referee Alireza Faghani who was unwilling to punish them with yellow cards.

Seleção step on the gas

Ronaldo released Bernardo Silva in the 52nd minute, the playmaker feeding Félix who fired into the side netting from a tight angle.

Two minutes later Portugal took the lead. Bruno Fernandes sent a deep cross into the box from the left wing, Cristiano Ronaldo beating the offside trap and narrowly missing the ball which went past a stranded Rochet and into the net.

Ronaldo then turned down an opportunity to send Félix through on goal before hurting himself in attempting a long range shot under pressure from Darwin Núñez.

Portugal started to drop deep, Santos trying to drive his team forward in scenes reminiscent of the recent defeats to Serbia and Spain.

Substitutions start to flow

Diego Alonso made two attacking substitutions in the 62nd minute, Diego Godín and Matías Vecino replaced by Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Facundo Pellistri. Rafael Leão then replaced Rúben Neves as the match threatened to open up.

Alonso overhauled his strike force in the 73rd minute when Núñez and Cavani made way for Maxi Gómez and Luis Suárez. Gómez went desperately close to finding an equaliser, hitting the post with Costa beaten.

Félix was finding it hard to adjust to his new position on the roght after the introduction of Leão, booked after conceding a free kick from which Suarez fired into the side netting.

Uruguay kept pressing, Valverde going on a long run forward and releasing de Arrascaeta with Costa doing well to smother the danger.

Santos made a triple switch in the 82nd minute when João Palhinha, Matheus Nunes and Gonçalo Ramos replaced William, Félix and Ronaldo.

Knockout punch

Rúben Dias was needlessly booked for protesting a penalty call that was eventually awarded, Bruno Fernandes nutmegging José Giménez who handled the ball as he went to ground.

Faghani pointed to the spot after checking the replays, Fernandes stepping up and sending Rochet the wrong way to prevent Portugal from suffering another nervy period of extra time.

Fernandes went desperately close to sealing a hat trick in the closing minutes, seeing his shot saved by Rochet and hitting the post with an effort from outside the box.

Bruno Fernandes is on fire

Bruno Fernandes is on fire for Portugal, the attacking midfielder providing two assists in the 3-2 win against Ghana and scoring both goals in the win against Uruguay.

He is starting to show tremendous consistency for the Seleção and is proving to be a regular match winner.

Revenge is sweet

Portugal had met Uruguay in a competitive match on one previous occasion, in the 2018 World Cup Round of 16. The South American side prevailed 2-1 in Sochi, Edinson Cavani opening the scoring and netting the winner after Pepe's equaliser.

Ten Portuguese players in the current squad were part of that team in Russia. Fernando Santos said there was no extra significance after the win in Lusail, but surely his players feel an element of revenge after what happened four years ago.

Let’s talk tactics

Diego Alonso sacrificed an attacker for a defender against Portugal, bringing in Sebastián Coates and switching to a back three.

It’s interesting that Ghana and now Uruguay have switched to back three formations to try and stop the Seleção, both those teams employing a back four in their other games in Group H.

Have opposition analysts been busy studying Portugal’s disastrous 4-2 defeat to Germany at the 2020 European Championship?

Changes

Pepe came into central defence for the injured Danilo, Nuno Mendes apparently recovering from a muscle issue to replace Raphaël Guerreiro at left back and William Carvalho coming into midfield for Otávio who picked up a knock against Ghana.

Pepe did what he does best and was strong throughout against a talented and varied Uruguayan attack. Mendes went off injured which is bad news for Portugal. It seems unlikely he will recover to play a further part in the competition alongside Danilo who broke three ribs in training.

William won plenty of the ball in midfield in a trademark performance and will come into contention to keep his starting spot in the crunch games.

Going ahead to Korea Republic

Fernando Santos said he wouldn’t make many changes for the final group stage game against Korea Republic. I don’t believe him.

Winning the opening two matches opens up a great chance to give Pepe another rest and hand opportunities to the likes of António Silva, Diogo Dalot, João Palhinha and Rafael Leão.

Get on board

The Portugal train has left the station and is rolling full steam ahead. The Seleção have a great chance to finish top of Group H to earn themselves a favourable path to the final.

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Line-ups

Portugal (4-2-3-1): Diogo Costa, João Cancelo, Pepe, Rúben Dias, Nuno Mendes (Raphaël Guerreiro, 42’), Rúben Neves (Rafael Leão, 69’), William Carvalho (João Palhinha, 82’), Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, João Félix (Matheus Nunes, 82’), Cristiano Ronaldo (Gonçalo Ramos, 82’)

Uruguay (3-5-2): Sergio Rochet, Giménez, Diego Godín (Facundo Pellistri, 62’), Sebastián Coates, Guilermo Varela, Rodrigo Bentancur, Matias Vecino (Giorgian e Arrascaeta, 62’), Matias Olivera (Matias Vina, 86’), Freddy Valverde, Edinson Cavani (Luis Suárez, 72’), Darwin Núñez (Maxi Gómez, 72’)

Goals:

[1-0] Bruno Fernandes, 54’

[2-0] Bruno Fernandes (pen), 92’