Sweden 0-2 Portugal: Player Ratings as Cristiano Ronaldo's brilliant brace seals it for the Seleção | UEFA Nations League 2020-21
Cristiano Ronaldo scored two absolute beauties to seal the deal for Portugal against Sweden in a League A Group 3 match in the UEFA Nations League. Ronaldo put Portugal ahead from a free-kick right before half time and then followed it up with another beauty in the 72nd minute to secure three points for Fernando Santos' men.
Cristiano Ronaldo has now become only the second player to score a century of international goals.
Sweden started well and were surprisingly the team that enjoyed more of the possession in the first half. However, they failed to make it count and relinquished any sort of control over the game after Gustav Svensson was sent off in the 44th minute.
Portugal cruised to a victory and looked quite comfortable running the clock down in the second half. Let's take a look at how the Portuguese players fared tonight.
Portugal Player Ratings
Anthony Lopes - 6/10
Lopes had a rather peaceful game and was rarely called into action as Sweden struggled to create anything of note in the final third.
Joao Cancelo - 7/10
Cancelo was really good tonight. He played some key passes and created chances for Portugal. He was good in the air and was a constant threat down the right flank with his pace and control on the ball. Finished the game with a pass completion rate of 91%.
Pepe - 7/10
Did nothing reckless and held his own inside the defensive third against a promising Swedish frontline.
Ruben Dias - 7/10
Dias dealt well against Sweden's set-pieces and there were a lot of them. Looked comfortable in possession and was excellent in the air. He was also pretty solid at one-on-ones.
Raphael Guerreiro - 7/10
Calm and composed in defence and always ready to lend a hand in attack, Porugal's left-back had a solid outing. His passing was on point and played an excellent ball into the box for Bruno Fernandes but the Manchester United man hit the crossbar with his volley.
Danilo Pereira - 6/10
Swept well in front of the defence and asserted his dominance over the midfield realms after Sweden were down to 10 men. Put in a few good tackles though at times he seemed too reluctant to push forward.
Joao Moutinho - 6/10
A little ucharacteristically sloppy on occasion, Moutinho had a tough time trying to hold it down in midfield for Portugal as he so often does. Taken off in the 73rd minute for Ruben Neves.
Bruno Fernandes - 8/10
Bruno had a great chance to get on the scoresheet and he skimmed the top of the bar from close range in the 59th minute. Played some excellent passes. It was his staggering diagonal ball in the build-up which led to the Cristiano Ronaldo's second goal of the game. Made quite a few ball recoveries and created 4 chances for his side.
Bernardo Silva - N/A
Bernardo Silva looked like he was growing into the game for Portugal and was starting to cause some problems down the right side before he had to be taken off prematurely owing to an injury.
Cristiano Ronaldo - 8/10
Cristiano Ronaldo was lively in his return and looked assured and confident on the ball. He came close to putting Portugal ahead in the 26th minute with a neat volley before scoring a peach of a freekick late into the first half to register his 100th international goal. Scored a beauty of a second from outside the area and was the difference maker.
Joao Felix - 6/10
We did see a few glimpses of the youngster's incredible talent but that was about it. His final product was found lacking on several occasions. Played a rather straight forward pass to set up Ronaldo's second goal of the night. DId come close to scoring with a left-footed strike in the 87th minute of the game.
Substitutions
Goncalo Guedes - 5/10
Remained anonymous for most of the game after coming on inside the first half hour for an injured Bernardo Silva. Failed to make an impact for Portugal alongside some very talented attackers.
Ruben Neves - N/A
Neves was brought on in place of Joao Moutinho. He dispensed his duties without much fuss but wasn't around for long enough to make an impact.
Diogo Jota - N/A
Came on for Portugal's goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo but didn't have enough time to do much.