Portugal clashed heads with France at the Puskas Arena earlier tonight as they looked to pick up a win and secure progression into the knockout stages of the UEFA European Championships. Cristiano Ronaldo gave Fernando Santos’ side the lead in the 30th minute via the penalty spot. However, Les Bleus came back into the game courtesy of a successful penalty from Karim Benzema in the first half injury-time. Both sides went into the half-time break with nothing to split them.
The French players made a strong start to the second half and got themselves ahead via an excellent finish from Benzema. However, Ronaldo struck from the penalty spot once again to equalize for Portugal. The contest ended with both teams playing out an entertaining 2-2 draw in Hungary.
Let’s take a look at how each Portuguese player performed during the match against Les Bleus.
GK: Rui Patricio – 6.5/10
The experienced goalie made a couple of excellent saves to keep the scoreline down. However, he won’t be happy after conceding a goal on either side of half-time.
RB: Nelson Semedo – 5/10
Semedo got harshly judged as he was unfortunate to give away a penalty late in the first half. He ran out of gas and got replaced in the 78th minute.
CB: Pepe – 6/10
He passed the ball relatively well from the back but was far from convincing when defending inside his penalty area.
CB: Ruben Dias – 6/10
The Manchester City centre-back made some important clearances for Portugal but will be disappointed for shipping in two goals during the game.
LB: Raphaël Guerreiro – 6/10
Guerreiro got stuck in with a couple of tackles and managed to create one key chance going forward.
CDM: Danilo Pereira – 7/10
He managed to disrupt France’s rhythm in the game and was also quite lively in the opposition half. He got substituted at half-time.
CM: Joao Moutinho – 6/10
The veteran midfielder made a couple of inviting chances in the final third and also had two shot attempts. However, he lacked energy at times in the second half.
CM: Renato Sanches – 7/10
Sanches got stuck in with some crunching tackles and caused some headaches for the German defenders with his powerful running.
RM: Bernardo Silva – 6.5/10
The Manchester City winger worked his socks off down the right flank and engineered a few promising opportunities for his teammates to score.
LM: Diogo Jota – 6/10
Jota came back to defend when needed but failed to generate a goal-scoring chance for himself in the attacking third.
ST: Cristiano Ronaldo – 7.5/10
The Portugal superstar kept his calm from the penalty spot and scored two important goals for Portugal which ended up keeping their UEFA Euro 2020 hopes alive.
Substitutes:
CDM: João Palhinha – 7/10
He added some bite and steel to Portugal’s midfield after coming on for the second half.
RW: Bruno Fernandes – 6/10
Fernandes was fortunate not to give away a late penalty for dragging down Kingsley Coman.
CM: Ruben Neves – 6/10
His impact on the game was minimal.
RB: Diogo Dalot – 6/10
He didn’t put a foot wrong after coming off the bench for the latter stages of the game.
CM: Sergio Oliviera – N/A
Oliviera didn’t get enough time to influence the game.
