Nations League: Spain snatch finals spot from Portugal, Ireland avert humiliation

Spain snatched a place in the Nations League final four after Álvaro Morata’s late goal secured a 1-0 win over Portugal in Braga to ensure top spot in their group.

Portugal had dominated the match but Spain stayed in the contest and in the 88th minute a long ball into the box from Dani Carvajal was headed by Nico Williams across to Morata, who lashed it into the net to silence most of the sold-out stadium. Portugal had a late chance to earn the point they needed but Cristiano Ronaldo missed from close range to extend his scoreless streak with the national team to three matches.

Spain had not won in Portugal in nearly two decades, since a friendly in 2003, and this was their first competitive away victory against their neighbours since a 2-1 World Cup qualifying triumph in 1934. Spain finished top of League A-Group 2 on 11 points from six games, one point above second-placed Portugal who only needed a draw to secure a place in the semi-finals. The Spaniards join Croatia, Italy and the Netherlands in next year’s finals tournament.

Republic of Ireland avoided relegation to the third tier after a 3-2 win over Armenia. John Egan opened the scoring with a header before Michael Obafemi doubled the lead with a low long-range strike. Armenia struck twice in three minutes to put the Irish one goal from humiliation but Robbie Brady’s penalty in added time settled nerves in Dublin. The Armenians had two players sent off in the fallout from the late penalty decision.

Northern Ireland slumped to their third defeat of a poor Nations League campaign as they were beaten 3-1 by Greece in Athens, and they were only spared a relegation play-off as Kosovo thrashed Cyprus 5-1. Shayne Lavery quickly cancelled out Dimitrios Pelkas’ 14th-minute