Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 900th career goal as Portugal edged Croatia 2-1 in Thursday’s UEFA Nations League clash at the Estadio da Luz.
The historic moment came in the 34th minute when the Portugal captain turned in a precise cross from Nuno Mendes, marking his milestone goal and sealing a hard-fought victory for Roberto Martinez’s side.
Portugal took the lead in the seventh minute with a goal from Diogo Dalot. The 39-year-old Ronaldo almost doubled their advantage 15 minutes later, forcing a brilliant reflex save from Croatia’s goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.
However, Livakovic was powerless to stop Ronaldo from putting Portugal ahead later in the half. Croatia managed to level the score when Dalot inadvertently turned the ball into his own net just four minutes before halftime, setting up an exciting second period in the League A Group 1 encounter.
Despite having a slightly higher expected goals (xG) value of 0.44 compared to Portugal’s 0.36 in the second half, Croatia couldn’t find a way through Portugal’s defense. Ronaldo, who had a joint team-high of four shots alongside Bruno Fernandes, received a standing ovation when he was substituted late in the match.
As the 2019 Nations League champions, Portugal will remain in Lisbon to host Scotland on Sunday. Meanwhile, Zlatko Dalic’s Croatia will seek to recover against Poland in Osijek on the second matchday.
Ronaldo, already the top scorer in the history of football and international football’s record goalscorer, extended his incredible tally to 900 goals with his 131st for his country. The rest of his goals are spread across his club career: 450 for Real Madrid, 145 for Manchester United, 131 for Juventus, 68 for Al-Nassr, and five for Sporting CP, where his journey began.
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