Portugal v Spain was highlighted by many as probably the greatest ties of the World Cup Group Stage and it certainly lived up to the hype on Friday night as Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick ensured the 2 sides finally shared the spoils in a six-goal thriller.



The pair had only met once before at the World Cup, however this came couldn’t have been more completely different from the cagey 1-0 Spain win back in 2010.

Following a torrid week off the pitch, all eyes were on Spain and that scrutiny would have solely increased as Portugal took an early lead.

With just three minutes gone, Ronaldo was felled by club team-mate Nacho as he appeared to burst into the box. The referee instantly pointed to the spot, with Ronaldo dusting himself down to send David de Gea the wrong way from the spot and score in his eighth consecutive major event.

That goal was just rewarded for a powerful start from the Seleçao, but that served only to poke the bear as Spain came out swinging in response.

Regardless of La Roja taking full control of the ball, Portugal continued to threaten on the break, with Gonçalo Guedes wasting a promising opening after being found by Ronaldo.

On the mid-way level in the first half, Portugal were made to regret that miss as Diego Costa levelled.

Preferred up front over Rodrigo and Iago Aspas for his bodily approach, Costa showed all his energy as he beat Pepe in a battle for a long ball. The Atletic Madrid man then squared up to defenders just inside the box before finding the yard of space he needed to flash an effort across Rui Particio and itno the corner of the net to restore parity.

Spain threatened to overwhelm Portugal for a period, with Isco rattling the bar with a thunderous effort from range simply 90 seconds after that equaliser.

Andres Iniesta saw an effort dribble wide of the far post after he met a cutback from Jordi Alba, but against the run of play, it was Portugal who would take the lead into the break.

Just 60 second before the half-time whistle, Guedes was given an excessive amount of space to control a long ball and find Ronaldo, whose tame effort somehow slipped through the grasp of De Gea and into the bottom nook.

It was a poor mistake from De Gea, who appeared crestfallen, having already made a mistake in the warm-up draw with Switzerland.

With that, Portugal took the lead into the break, however the second half continued where the first had left off, albeit at less of a brekaneck speed.

– Spain’s rapid tournaround –

Spain continued to monopolise the ball and two goals in three minutes saw them flip the game on its head.

Costa bundled home his second of the game 10 minutes after the restart after Sergio Busquets headed a free-kick into his path, while Nacho completed the turnaround with a rasping 25-yard drive that kissed the inside of the post on its way to finding the back of the net just minutes later.



Fernando Hierro’s side tried to strangle the life out of the game from that point, though they did still create an opportunity for Costa to seal his hat-trick as he scuffed an effort wide of the far post from another Alba cutback.

Nevertheless, Spain appeared to have done enough to deny a Portugal side that looked bereft of ideas going forward.

– Ronaldo made sure to have the final word –

Step forward Ronaldo. With just two minutes to play, he was tripped by Gerard Pique just outside of the box and responded by curling the perfect set-piece over the wall and into th top corner to complete his hat-trick, level the scores and earn his aspect a point.

Read more: https://sportblitzz.com/2018/06/15/ronaldo-show-ensures-portugal-and-spain-share-the-spoils-in-six-goal-thriller/#ixzz5IWr6zz7D