First defeat in the Nations League, Czechs can’t keep up with the Portuguese and leave with a 0:2 defeat

The Czechs failed to win their third Nations League match, losing 0:2 to Portugal and dropping to third place in the table. The result was decided by first-half goals from Joao Canelo and Goncalo Guedes.

Ruben Neves had the first chance of the match in the tenth minute, but missed the target from the edge of the box. The Portuguese started to dominate the game, with Cristiano Ronaldo getting a quick break in the 23rd minute, but under pressure he missed the space between the three posts.

In the 30th minute, the Czechs made their first appearance, but Jan Kuchta’s shot after a pass from Ondrej Lingr was caught by the home goalkeeper. Three minutes later it was 1:0. The Portuguese outmuscled the Czech defence and Joao Cancelo sent the ball to the back post.

And in the 37th minute it was two goals up. Goncalo Guedes found the ball behind the defence and placed it towards the left post. The home team went into the booth with a 2-0 lead.

After the change of sides Jaroslav Šilhavý changed the line-up, but it didn’t affect the performance too much. It was only in the 59th minute that Adam Hložek pulled off a breakaway chance, but substitute Václav Jurečka missed the ball perfectly and did not threaten the goal.

Guedes could have added the last nail to the coffin, but Michal Sadílek got to him in time and cleared the ball away. In the 86th minute, Portugal gifted a chance to Adam Vlkan, but he only headed into the side netting.

Nothing more happened and the Czechs lost 0:2. With Spain’s win over Switzerland, they dropped to third place in the table.

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