Battling Ireland suffer stoppage-time heartbreak as Ruben Neves rescues Portugal

Ruben Neves got Portugal out of jail with an injury-time World Cup qualifying winner against the Republic of Ireland after Cristiano Ronaldo had seen his penalty saved by Caoimhin Kelleher.

Just as they had done in 2021, the Portuguese left it late, Neves heading home in the first minute of stoppage time to snatch a 1-0 win, four years after Ronaldo had scored twice at the death to see off a stubborn Ireland.

Heimir Hallgrimsson’s men looked set to leave Lisbon’s Jose Alvalade Stadium with a hard-fought point but ultimately did so empty-handed, although having restored a good deal of price with a battling display which erased some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

Defeat, however, leaves them staring down the barrel, with their first three Group F games having yielded just a single point.

They must beat the Armenians in Dublin on Tuesday evening, when key midfielder Josh Cullen will be suspended, if they are to have any hope of claiming a play-off place.

Hallgrimsson adopted a safety-first approach after seeing his side concede twice in each of the first two qualifiers, setting up in a 5-4-1 formation designed to frustrate.

Nuno Mendes volleyed a seventh-minute Neves cross powerfully across Kelleher’s goal and Bruno Fernandes curled a right-footed shot well wide of the goalkeeper’s left post two minutes later to maintain the pressure.

However, the keeper needed the help of a post when Ronaldo made enough space for himself to unleash a snapshot which flew past Kelleher and came back off the woodwork at such pace that Bernardo Silva could not steer the rebound into the empty net.

Applause rang around the stadium in memory of Diogo Jota as the game entered its 21st minute, just as Ireland