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Portugal came from behind to snatch a stoppage-time winner against Czech Republic in Group F in Leipzig.
The Czechs produced a disciplined defensive display in the first half, which led to frustration for the 2016 winners.
Lukas Provod then scored a beautiful curling strike from 25 yards to stun Portugal just after the hour but an unfortunate own-goal from defender Robin Hranac seven minutes later set up a tense finale.
Diogo Jota saw a goal ruled out for offside four minutes from time but sub Francisco Conceicao popped up to slam home a winner two minutes into his competitive debut to break Czech hearts and get Portugal off to a winning start.
History makers
Cristiano Ronaldo set a new record as the first man to have played in six European Championships while Pepe, aged 41 years and 113 days, became the oldest player in the competition’s history.
On his 208th cap Ronaldo mis-timed a header from a cross from Rafael Leao, who had pounced on a loose pass and cut in from the left after just eight minutes, sending the ball wide of the upright
Nuno Mendes lashed over from 30 yards as Portugal began to show signs of frustration and Ruben Dias and Bruno Fernandez saw long-range efforts deflected off target.
Jindřich Staněk likviduje první velkou šanci Portugalců! 🧱 pic.twitter.com/n3lmYwp9LL
— Česká fotbalová reprezentace (@ceskarepre_cz) June 18, 2024
Fernandes curled a low ball into the box on the break which the sliding Leao was inches away from converting and just after the half hour Fernandes unlocked the defence with a pass to Ronaldo.
On-rushing keeper Jindrich Stanek – once on the books of Everton and who played five games on loan at non-league Hyde United in 2015 – did superbly to block his shot and then was up in time to clutch Vitinha’s follow-up curler from the edge of the box.
A Ronaldo back-heel almost sent Vitinha through, only for Robin Hranac to crowd him out in the box and Portugal’s frustration grew as Leao was shown a…
Source link : https://www.101greatgoals.com/news/euro-2024-portugal-2-1-czech/
Author : Alex Hoad
Publish date : 2024-06-18 21:09:29
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