AP, MADRID
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty and an overhead kick on Friday as Portugal beat Poland 5-1 to guarantee a place in the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals.
Ronaldo turned in a man-of-the-match performance in a blistering second half.
Rafael Leao broke the deadlock with a fine header 14 minutes into the second half and then Ronaldo got his 134th international goal from the penalty spot 13 minutes later.
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, back, scores during their UEFA Nations League match against Poland in Porto, Portugal, on Friday.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Bruno Fernandes scored a stunning third from almost 30m out and three minutes later Ronaldo’s pass gave Pedro Neto the space to lash home a fourth from a tight angle.
Ronaldo made it five — and 135 — with a deft overhead kick three minutes from time.
Although Dominik Marczuk got a late consolation for Poland, the result ended their hopes of making the quarter-finals.
With Croatia losing 1-0 to Scotland, Roberto Martinez’s men are guaranteed top spot in Group A1.
Scotland moved to two points in the group, while Poland have four. They are to meet in Warsaw tomorrow, with Scotland needing a win to avoid relegation.
In Group A4, Spain beat Denmark 2-1, although Denmark remained in pole position to grab one of the top two group places.
They are in second place with seven points, two ahead of Serbia. The sides meet in Leskovac tomorrow. Last-placed Switzerland are to drop to League B after their 1-1 draw with Serbia.
In Group C3, Northern Ireland took a huge step closer to promotion to League B with a 2-0 win at home over Belarus. Martin O’Neil’s men just need a point against Luxembourg tomorrow to guarantee promotion to League B.
Bulgaria beat Luxembourg 1-0 away to move to second place with eight points. They face Belarus, who have six, tomorrow.
In Group D1, San Marino scored a stoppage-time penalty to draw with Gibraltar 1-1, who remained on top of the group with six points, two ahead of San Marino and four clear of Liechtenstein, albeit having played one game more.
With one game to go, all three teams are still in contention for promotion to League C.
The match between Romania and Kosovo in Group C2 was suspended in stoppage-time with the score 0-0 in Bucharest.
There were scuffles between players from both teams and Kosovo players walked off the pitch.
UEFA did not explain why the game was cut short, but Kosovo players were reportedly upset at hearing pro-Serbian slogans.
