It was an action-packed affair in the Leipzig, with Portugal producing the goods late on to take the three points. It wasn’t a straightforward victory for Roberto Martínez’s side, with Czechia proving a tough nut to crack. The dramatic comeback from Portugal sees them move joint on points with Türkiye after their thriller of a game against Georgia.
A win is a win at the end of the day for Portugal, but it certainly wasn’t a pretty one. They lacked creativity for large majorities of the game, something they will hope to solve in their upcoming games. For Czechia, Lukáš Provod’s brilliant goal wasn’t enough to see them earn anything from the game, but the result will certainly give them confidence heading into the final two group stage games.
As it happened
Portugal dominated for large parts of the game, although it was Czechia who found the opener in the 62nd minute. It was worth the wait, with Provod’s stunner from outside the box setting the game alight. Portugal weren’t down an out though. Just seven minutes later, the equaliser found the back of the net and, despite a goal ruled out, a resilient Portugal found the winner in stoppage time.
There were positive signs from Czechia in the early stages of the game, with Vladimír Coufal and Pavel Šulc both finding themselves in advanced positions, but nothing materialised. It wasn’t long before Cristiano Ronaldo was involved, too, but he was unable to connect with a header after a teasing ball from Milan’s Rafael Leão. It was the first real opening of the game, with Ronaldo squandering the opportunity.
Portugal began to bare their teeth in the tie, with Leão making life difficult for Coufal on the left-hand side. His speed and unpredictability, combined with linking up play with Nuno Mendes, caused constant threats. Roberto Martinez’s side had 77% off the ball after 25 minutes, yet nothing to show for their dominance. Gaps did begin to open up for Portugal, with Leão just inches away from the opener. A speedy counter saw Bruno Fernandes receive in a wide area, with his squared pass narrowly missing a sliding Leão.
Embed from Getty ImagesRonaldo was close to grabbing his and Portugal’s first goal of the tournament, if it wasn’t for a huge save by Jindřich Staněk. A clever ball from Fernandes lead to Ronaldo being in the clear, but the keeper came out on top. It may have been ruled out had it found the back of the net, but Portugal remained to look dangerous and threat an opener. Czechia had a few positive spells, looking dangerous and aggressive going forward, but by doing that they were getting caught out by swift counter-attacks from Portugal against their high line defence. For the first time in the tournament, it was goalless at half-time.
Portugal continued to be wasteful with their chances, despite finding themselves in good positions. Ronaldo continued his search for the goal, unleashing a few efforts on goal, but nothing too uncomfortable for Staněk to deal with. The pressure from Portugal was beginning to grow, with the clock ticking.
Against the run of play, Czech Republic found the opening goal after a stunning strike by Provod. How can you not love tournament football? Coufal brought the ball down before finding Provod, his sweeping effort bounced in off the far post to give Ivan Hašek side an unlikely lead. Despite the domination and chances of Portugal, the frustration grew even further after going behind.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt took just seven minutes for Portugal to draw back level, after a disaster at the back. Mendes’ header at the back post was denied by Staněk, with his save rebounding off Robin Hranáč and into his own net. It was a huge slice off luck for Portugal, with Martínez’s side now on the lookout for a winner. The goalkeeper could have dealt with the situation more sufficiently, pushing it back into a danger area where there was only going to be one result.
Despite the pressure from Portugal to find their second, likely winning goal, Czechia were close to snatching the three points. The ball fell out kindly to West Ham United’s Tomáš Souček, with his effort dragged wide of the post. It was all to play for going into the final 10 minutes.
Diogo Jota thought he’d given his side the lead in the 87th minute, but VAR intervened to rule the goal out. Ronaldo’s header came crashing off the post, with the substitute knocking it in for what was thought to be 2-1. After a check, however, the technology deemed Ronaldo to be in an offside position as he made a run into the box.
Portugal did grab their winner, with Francisco Conceição bundling in on his competitive debut to win the game. Martinez would have been watching on smugly, with the two late substitutes combining to find the goal. Pedro Neto’s zipped ball across was slipped on by Kranac, with Conceição in the right place at the right time to slot home.
Embed from Getty ImagesIn dramatic fashion, Portugal could breathe a sigh of relief, with the late goal meaning they came away with all three points. Czechia proved a tough test for Roberto Martínez’s side, and they were unlucky not to come away with a result.
You can keep up with all of the drama at EURO2024 right here at FromTheSpot.
The lineups
POR: Costa; Dalot, Pepe, Dias; Cancelo, Silva, Fernandes, Vitinha, Mendes; Ronaldo, Leão.
CZE: Staněk; Holeš, Hranáč, Krejčí; Coufal, Šulc, Souček, Provod, Douděra; Kuchta, Schick.