João Félix leads Portugal past Wales, Ronaldo unused
Jorge Jesus benched Cristiano Ronaldo for the entire match as João Félix's second-half goal secured Portugal's win over Wales in the Nations League.
, with João Félix settling the contest after 22 minutes when he found the net for the second time in the campaign.
Jorge Jesus left Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench for the whole match and did not send him on at all, a striking call given Ronaldo has scored three times in the campaign and is the side's top scorer. Portugal dominated possession at 0.61 and had 5 shots on target to Wales's 1, with 10 corners to Wales's 2. Benjamin Cabango was booked on 71 minutes.
Elsewhere, Troy Parrott opened the scoring for the Republic of Ireland against Israel in Debrecen, continuing the run of form that made him Ireland's hero in the World Cup play-offs. The 24-year-old, now at Real Betis, has scored twice for Ireland since March. Adam Idah and Jack Moylan added further goals before half-time for a 0:3 win; Moylan, on loan at Cardiff since August, has scored 4 goals there this season. The match had been overshadowed by Ireland goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu's refusal to play for reasons of principle, which Irish media reported had caused division within the squad.
Norway had the better chances in the first half of their match with Portugal, and Erling Haaland missed one before Portugal took the lead through Félix. Haaland levelled early in the second half, tapping in from close range, only for Gonçalo Ramos to put Portugal back ahead after goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland was caught in possession trying to play out from the back. Nyland erred again shortly after and Ramos beat him a second time, but the goal was ruled out by the VAR. Portugal held on to win 1:2.
More on this fixture, including the lineups and match stats, is available in our report on Portugal against Wales.
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