🔗 Share this article Late Goal from Neves Sinks the Irish After Kelleher Denies Cristiano Ronaldo Spot-Kick The Portuguese midfielder came to the rescue for Portugal with a last-gasp winner in their World Cup clash against Ireland, following Caoimhín Kelleher had kept out a penalty from the veteran forward. Match Overview Neves found the net during added time to snatch a 1-0 win, several seasons after the star striker had bagged a brace late on to overcome a resilient Irish side. Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men looked set to leave Lisbon with a well-earned draw, but ultimately suffered defeat, despite regaining a good deal of pride with a gritty display that overshadowed some of the memories of last month’s disappointing defeat in Armenia. Nevertheless, the loss puts them staring down the barrel, with their first three qualifying group matches having yielded only a single draw. They must defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any hope of securing a qualifying spot. Major Incidents The Liverpool keeper seemed to have earned Ireland a draw when he superbly kept out Ronaldo’s penalty with his trailing leg after a Portuguese player’s shot had hit Dara O’Shea’s hand. The match-winner came to his side’s rescue in the first minute of stoppage time when he headed a delivery from the wing past the Irish goalkeeper. Other Group Results Portugal’s Group Hungary boosted their hopes of qualifying by picking up their initial victory with a 2-0 triumph over Armenia, moving above their rivals into second place behind Portugal in the standings. Daniel Lukacs provided Hungary the lead in the first half and Zsombor Gruber secured the points in second-half added time. Group K Serbia suffered a narrow defeat at home to Albania, with the outcome meaning the Three Lions can now seal their passage from their qualifying group by beating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj netted the only goal for his team with a neat volley in late added time. The Latvian side struggles in their group persisted as they were forced to a two-all tie at home by the Andorran team. Ian Olivera scored for the visitors 12 minutes from time to claim them their initial draw of the qualifiers and prolong Latvia’s winless run to five games. Group E The Spanish national team maintained their impressive Group E run with a comfortable victory over the Georgian side after goals from Jéremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal in Elche. The result continued the title holders’ perfect record in the qualifiers, having notched 11 goals in three games without conceding. In spite of the absence of key figures such as a talented winger, Nico Williams, and the midfield anchor due to fitness issues, the Spanish squad demonstrated their superiority against a Georgia team that spent the majority of the game defending deep. The home side dominated the encounter with more than 80% of the ball, and the visitors did not have one shot on target or create a clear chance, with only goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili averting a rout. The scorer opened the scoring in the first half from a expertly taken set-piece move, and his compatriot wrapped up the victory in the second period with a stunning set-piece after the Georgian keeper had denied a Spanish player’s penalty. Other Results Turkey bounced back with a comprehensive victory over the Bulgarian side to stay close to the group leaders in their section. Real Madrid’s a young talent was among the scorers. The Italian squad boosted their prospects of at least reaching the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable win away to the Estonian team, thanks to strikes from Moise Kean, another attacker, and a third scorer. Gennaro Gattuso commented: “We’re not thinking about the group leaders or our next opponents. We are aware of what we have to do.” The Azzurri missed out for the previous two World Cups, on two occasions missing out in the qualifying rounds, and the dreaded playoff path now looks their primary chance after Norway’s 5-0 hammering over the Israeli side in their qualifying group. Norway are leading on eighteen points from six games. The Italians have 12 points with a game in hand on their competitors and are a trio of points ahead of Israel. The Estonian squad stay fourth on three points. The group winners qualify directly for the World Cup, with the runners-up entering the playoffs. Italy face their rivals on Tuesday, where a win would secure second spot and, while they can still mathematically overtake the group leaders on points, the Norwegians’ much better goal ratio means a qualifying place likely awaits for the Italian squad.