European Championship Qualifying roundup: Belgium ease past Estonia, Ronaldo saves Portugal
Austria 2 Sweden 0
It looked like only a matter of time before the hosts took the lead as Junior Adamu and Michael Gregoritsch wasted early chances. They were nearly left regretting those opportunities too, as Victor Lindelöf and Emil Forsberg forced excellent saves out of goalkeeper Alexander Schlager at the other end, the latter of which was at full-stretch to push a low effort around the post.
After all that excitement, the game settled into a pattern of Austria dominating the ball and creating numerous openings, only to be consistently thwarted by Olsen. The visiting stopper was like a brick wall, flying high to tip away Patrick Wimmer’s long-range thunderbolt, before denying Gregoritsch from point-blank range and somehow getting a glove on Xaver Schlager’s fierce drive from inside the area.
That trend continued after the break when Gregoritsch saw his towering header saved, while Maximilian Wöber tried to find the bottom corner from a tight angle, only for the goalkeeper to parry. At the other end, Dejan Kulusevski’s powerful effort was kept out by Schlager as Sweden sent a reminder of their attacking capabilities, but that was a rare chance for Janne Andersson’s side, who soon had Olsen to thank once more for ensuring the game remained all-square as he beat away a well-struck Gregoritsch shot.
The deadlock was finally broken with 10 minutes left, when Olsen kept out a fizzing Florian Grillitsch strike only for Baumgartner to bundle home the rebound from close range. That knocked the wind out of Sweden, who found themselves 2-0 down when the striker got his second with another close-range rebound to put the game to bed.
The result means Austria remain top of the group after extending their unbeaten run to six matches, while Sweden have lost two of their three qualifiers.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Robin Olsen (Sweden)
See stats from the match at Flashscore
Estonia 0 Belgium 3
With over 100 places separating these sides in the FIFA rankings, anyone – especially those with clear memories of Belgium’s 8-1 rout of the Baltic side in November 2016 – would be forgiven for expecting total Belgian dominance from the get-go. However, the only joy Domenico Tedesco’s side managed in the opening stages came when Estonia were caught high up the pitch, but as Belgium’s all-time leading scorer Romelu Lukaku burst in behind, his tame effort was thwarted by Karl Hein.
Having let Estonia off the hook once already, Lukaku was in no mood to do so again. With a summer of uncertainty ahead for Belgium’s premier goalscorer, the Chelsea ace was keen to take advantage of his ‘shop window’ moment, and finally got onto the scoresheet when he turned home Aster Vranckx’s delivery. And ‘Big Rom’ was soon celebrating again before Estonia could regroup, sweeping home Arthur Theate’s wicked cross to double his tally just three minutes later.
Although football purists would’ve been fully aware the game wasn’t over at the hour mark, Tedesco ringing the changes hinted at the fact he was acutely aware his side were in no danger of having their lead overhauled. The fact Estonia hadn’t as much as mustered a shot on target by the 75th minute would certainly support that theory, but for a side who had scored just four goals in their last 13 Euro qualifiers prior to tonight, maybe that wasn’t too much of a surprise.
Ultimately, it was a rather straightforward evening for Belgium, even with Kevin De Bruyne absent from the squad. The Red Devils now have Group F leaders Austria firmly in their sights. A two-goal reverse would’ve flattered Estonia a little, but Johan Bakayoko was on hand in the dying moments to add a coat of deserved gloss to Belgium’s victory – their eighth in nine H2Hs.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)
See stats from the match at Flashscore
Iceland 0 Portugal 1
Portugal’s perfect start to life under Roberto Martínez - three wins, each with a clean sheet, from their three opening ECQ fixtures - looked under threat in the first 20 minutes, due to the Icelandic blockade proving tough to breach. Early set-piece headers for centre backs Rúben Dias and Pepe were placed on target but ultimately saved by Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson, whilst Ronaldo, who was also awarded the Guinness World Record for the most appearances in men’s international football pre-KO, could barely get a touch of the ball.
This sturdy defensive display provided a base for the home team to grow in confidence, knowing a shock first-ever H2H victory would breathe new life into their chances of qualifying for only a third-ever major tournament finals appearance. Our Boys gave Portugal plenty to ponder with their counter attacks, with the best opportunities slashed over the bar inside the penalty area by Victor Pálsson and headed straight at Diogo Costa by Hörður Magnússon. As a result, they were unlucky not to have the advantage at the break, though that fortune was perhaps evened out when Alfreð Finnbogason escaped a sending off for an elbow on Pepe on the stroke of HT, leaving the Portuguese camp enraged.
Martínez looked to use that anger to spur on his men, who knew they would have to move up a gear if they were to turn the tide in the second half. The hold on proceedings did swing back in their favour with a domineering 71% possession, but still shots on target escaped them. The closest Rúnarsson came to being beaten was in the 50th minute when Ronaldo headed a corner onto the roof of the net, which A Seleção failed to kick on from.
Just as it seemed Portugal were wavering, with 10 minutes to go, they were handed a boost when Willum Þór Willumsson lunged in on Gonçalo Inácio to receive a second yellow card. The man who was fouled would go on to knock down a free-kick to Ronaldo in the 90th minute, who put the ball past Rúnarsson with ease, and after a lengthy VAR check the five-time Ballon d’Or was confirmed to have snatched the winner at the death.
As a result, Portugal maintained their 100 percent record in Group J, which they stay on top of with 12 points from a possible 12.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
See stats from the match at Flashscore
Other qualifying results:
