An imperious Portugal came away from the Estadio Jose Alvalade with a 4-0 win over Switzerland, thanks to a trio of goals in the opening 40 minutes, which ended the match as a contest.
Switzerland looked to get the scoring started after just seven minutes. Still, Seferovic’s strike was chalked off for handball in the build-up, which would be the closest the visitors ever threatened Patricio.
Santos’ side didn’t look back and broke the deadlock just eight minutes later through Carvalho’s close-range finish.
A quickfire Ronaldo double put the match beyond the reach of Yakin’s side before the interval.
And a Cancelo goal in the 68th minute added the finishing touch to a spectacular display in Lisbon.
Starting lineup:
PORTUGAL XI (4-3-3): Rui Patricio; Nuno Mendes, Danilo Pereira, Pepe, Joao Cancelo; Bruno Fernandes, William Carvalho, Ruben Neves; Diogo Jota, Cristiano Ronaldo, Otavio.
SWITZERLAND XI (4-2-3-1): Gregor Kobel; Kevin Mbabu, Fabian Schar, Fabian Frei, Ricardo Rodriguez; Renato Steffen, Granit Xhaka; Djibril Sow, Xherdan Shaqiri, Jordan Lotomba; Haris Seferovic.
Goals:
PORTUGAL TAKE THE LEAD! 1-0! Both Manchester United representatives in the Selecao starting XI stand over the free-kick, but Ronaldo strikes it, sending his low effort underneath the leaping wall. Kobel dives to his right to make a great initial stop, but the rebound falls kindly to Carvalho, who tucks it home!
PORTUGAL SCORED AGAIN! IT HAD TO BE RONALDO! 2-0! Fernandes latches onto a loose ball down the right and slides in to put an unorthodox cross into the centre of the penalty area. Jota picks up possession and turns to find the unmarked run of Ronaldo, who fires a powerful first-time effort into the open goal!
IT’S TWO FOR RONALDO! 3-0! A clever pass from Fernandes frees Mendes to attack the byline before a chip into the 18-yard box finds Jota. The forward fires an unconvincing shot on target, which forces Kobel to parry the ball into the path of an unimpeded Ronaldo, who taps it in with aplomb!
CANCELO MAKES IT FOUR! 4-0! The Manchester City connection pays dividends for Portugal as Bernardo Silva plays a leading pass into Switzerland’s half for Cancelo. Kobel messes the clearance, coming outside his penalty area only to miss his kick and allow the full-back to deposit the ball into the empty net!
So, what’s next?
Portugal plays again on Thursday when they host the Czech Republic in further Nations League action. Finally, Switzerland returns home to welcome Spain to the Stade de Geneve.
