Portugal 4-1 Croatia: Player ratings as Fernando Santos' men extend their unbeaten home run to 17 matches | UEFA Nations League 2020-21
Goals from Joao Cancelo, Diogo Jota, Joao Felix and Andre Silva sealed an impressive 4-1 victory for UEFA Nations League holders Portugal - but they could have easily put Zlatko Dalic's Croatia to the sword by half-time.
Portugal hit the woodwork on three separate occasions, forced goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic into seven saves and exposed the visitors for what was some rather sloppy defending throughout.
Dinamo Zagreb forward Bruno Petkovic took advantage as Portugal's collective levels dropped towards the end with a consolation goal in stoppage-time.
The 25-year-old, who made his Croatia debut last March, now has six goals in nine appearances and will be satisfied with a memorable contribution from the substitutes' bench - where the majority of the visitors' success emanated from.
A toe infection ruled Cristiano Ronaldo out of contention here but the nation's star man would have been nonetheless pleased with his teammates' performances as they target a strong finish to what has been an unprecedented year in 2020.
Croatia face a trip to World Cup winners France on Tuesday and need to deliver a much-improved display there. Meanwhile, Portugal will entertain Sweden before this latest international break ends. They'll be hoping to have Juventus forward Ronaldo back for that match on Tuesday evening, but this display reinforced their ability to perform without him.
So without further ado, here's a look at the player ratings from both teams during a rather comfortable Portugal victory in the UEFA Nations League:
Portugal
Anthony Lopes: 6/10
In Rui Patricio's absence, Anthony Lopes made his first appearance for Portugal since May 2018, when he featured in a 2-2 friendly draw against Tunisia. The Lyon man had to be alert early in the game to react as Vlasic came close. Croatia looked threatening in bursts but didn't really have much to do after the first ten minutes.
Distribution was fairly shaky (13 completed passes, 52% success) but that's understandable considering he was regularly a bystander for sustained periods.
Petkovic's finish was well-taken and from close-range, so although Lopes would have been disappointed not to have kept a clean sheet, it's fair to say his defenders had dropped their concentration levels and were duly punished for it.
Joao Cancelo: 7.5/10
Dropped Joao Cancelo's rating from an 8 given the involvement in Petkovic's consolation and a general inability to defend one-on-one duels, which was quite glaring at times despite Portugal's routine win.
He made four tackles, three completed dribbles, two interceptions and clearances.
The 26-year-old also broke the deadlock with a well-taken strike from distance and had a key pass but the Manchester City man's defending left a lot to be desired.
Against the Mateo Kovacic - Ante Rebic combo down his side, he wasn't confident and it showed in comparison to how happy he was flying forward on the overlap.
Pepe: 7.5/10
Pepe should have scored for Portugal in the first half, which was packed full of chances, but he eventually got a stoppage-time assist for his troubles instead.
He defended well (four clearances, three interceptions, one block) and his distribution (50 passes completed, 94.3% success) was second-best across the Portugal team. At 37, he is showing no signs of slowing down at the heart of their backline.
Ruben Dias: 7/10
Pepe's centre-back partner, Ruben Dias, wasn't too shabby either; he had a game-high seven clearances, four tackles and won all but one of his seven duels contested.
It'll be interesting to see how the Benfica defender fares against tougher opposition though, after his Europa League exploits last month didn't go unnoticed.
Raphael Guerreiro: 8/10
Borussia Dortmund's Raphael Guerreiro left this encounter with a solitary assist but could have easily had two more and a goal.
With three key passes and the most touches (93) of anyone across both sides, it was clear he relished having possession - especially further forward where he was given the licence to roam alongside Fernandes and Jota.
He struck the post from distance in the first-half after a well-worked move saw him unmarked on the edge of Croatia's box. Busy goalkeeper Livakovic very nearly turned it into his own goal with a nasty ricochet but it wasn't meant to be.
Although the visitors didn't really get going, it was important that he didn't shy away from his defensive duties when they did threaten.
Joao Moutinho: 6/10
Joao Moutinho was not noticed on the pitch too often and was clearly Portugal's least effective midfielder. The Wolves man did create two key passes and retained possession well (91.4% success) but won just five of 13 duels, was dribbled past on four occasions and just didn't do enough in comparison to his teammates.
Danilo Pereira: 7.5/10
Danilo Pereira only came close to scoring once - a header midway through the first-half - but his disciplined midfield display allowed the likes of Fernandes and Silva the freedom to gallop forward at will without needing to focus heavily on defending.
Both players still tracked back, as you'd expect, but the Porto man was reliable in the tackle, with the ball at his feet. It's easy to see why he's constantly linked with a big-money move elsewhere across Europe.
No-one retained the ball better with 98.2% pass completion while having four interceptions and tackles, alongside two clearances during a commendable showing.
He celebrates his 29th birthday next week and looking at the Portugal bench, it's evident they still lack a player capable of doing the things he does so well.
Bruno Fernandes: 9/10 - Man of the Match
The same could be said for Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes, who was the Man of the Match on this occasion.
He had more tackles won (4) than successful dribbles (3) and yet didn't rest on his laurels and continued to create havoc as Croatia allowed him too much time and space to pick passes, both short and long-range.
With seven key passes, eight of 12 ground duels won and a handful of dangerous deliveries whipped into the box, it's a surprise he only had one assist to show for his evening's work.
Bernardo Silva: 7/10
Another player who was busy on both sides of the pitch was Manchester City's Bernardo Silva, who had the same amount of defensive interventions (5) as he did key passes.
After an excellent season in 2018-19, it's fair to say his level dropped at club level and he appears determined to do better across all competitions in 2020 - that much was evident by the way he was playing here.
It was his costly miskick that cost Portugal a potential goalscoring opportunity on the counter-attack in the first half, but importantly, he didn't let that intricate mistake impact his game. An encouraging but not spectacular display, all told.
Joao Felix: 8/10
Someone who did catch the eye for Portugal, though, was Atletico's club-record signing Joao Felix - he scored one, hit the woodwork and did his fair share of defending too.
The commentators couldn't hide their surprise as Rebic's dangerous cross was cleared away with an acrobatic move by the 20-year-old as Brekalo lurked dangerously at the far post.
Croatia collectively should have done better to deny his drilled strike from the edge of the area but it was a justified reward for a youngster who didn't stop running and has shown signs that his Atleti education is gradually beginning to pay off.
Diogo Jota: 7.5/10
This game had goals written all over it early on and Diogo Jota, who had a topsy-turvy season across all competitions with Wolves, importantly made his mark for Portugal.
It was interesting to see him preferred to Goncalo Guedes by Fernando Santos, but the 23-year-old dovetailed nicely down the left-hand side with Guerreiro-Fernandes and also took his goal well after the fullback's defence-splitting pass.
Portugal's substitutes
Francisco Trincao and Sergio Oliveira: N/A
The Portugal pair were late subs, with not enough time to warrant a fair rating.
Andre Silva: 7/10
Andre Silva came off Portugal's substitutes' bench to score a scrappy fourth, which will give him a much-needed boost of confidence after an impressive end to the Bundesliga season with Eintracht Frankfurt.
Having gone scoreless in his last three games - club friendlies and a 1-0 loss to Basel in last month's Europa League last-16 - the Portugal centre-forward now has two in successive games after netting against Ajax last week.