Portugal vs Bosnia: Bruno Fernandes’ two goals and Bernardo Silva’s goal helped Portugal maintain their perfect record in Euro 2024 qualification.Bosnia and Herzegovina came to Lisbon with a game plan, and Portugal had to work hard to defeat them. Just before halftime, Silva scored against the flow of play, which opened the door for a more controlled effort. Portugal may not have been at their best, but the fact remains that they have three victories in as many games in Group J.
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The hosts dominated the early going, although neither custodian was tested until the 22nd minute. The first close call belonged to the visitors as 21-year-old defensive rookie Adrian Barisic swung a cross-cum-shot that almost fooled Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa.
However, the Porto stopper clawed it away. Less than a minute later, Portugal had the ball in the net of Bosnia thanks to a signature header from Cristiano Ronaldo, but the offside flag appropriately ended the jubilation.
Then, the visitors stepped up their game, and Edin Dzeko had a golden opportunity to put them in front six minutes later, but he missed it.
When it appeared that the first half would conclude goalless, Bernardo Silva pounced on a sharp Bruno Fernandes through ball and effortlessly hoisted it over the advancing Ibrahim Sehic to break the score on minute 44. This was the only truly impressive play from either side in the opening 45 minutes.
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Early in the second half, Roberto Martinez’s team controlled most of the possession and played nearly entirely within the Bosnian half without really putting Sehic under a lot of stress. As a result of Portugal’s constant possession, Fernandes increased Portugal’s advantage after 77 minutes.
Ruben Neves, who came on in the second half, sent a beautiful cross from the right, which Fernandes received and headed past Sehic to give Bosnia the victory. But the score was not over yet. In the last seconds of the second half, the Manchester United midfielder once more produced a stunning half-volley into the top-right corner.
Portugal vs Bosnia Starting XI
Portugal XI: Diogo Costa; Danilo, António Silva, Rúben Dias, Cancelo, Palhinha, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Raphael Guerreiro; João Félix, Cristiano Ronaldo
Bosnia XI: Sehic; Ahmedhodzic, Sanicanin, Kolasinac, Barisic; Dedic, Cimirot, Hadziahmetovic, Pjanic; Dzeko, Stefanovic
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