After scoring equaliser in draw v Portugal to enter quarters, Croatia’s Gvardiol attributes result to higher energy, better control, more chances in latter part
Croatia’s Josko Gvardiol (centre) celebrates his goal against Portugal with teammates in Split, Croatia, on Monday. Pic/Getty Images
Josko Gvardiol continued his scoring streak to earn Croatia a 1-1 home draw with Portugal on Monday that allowed them to squeak into the Nations League quarter-finals. ADVERTISEMENTPortugal had already sealed top spot in Group A1. The draw allowed Croatia to finish one point above Scotland who continued their late surge with a 2-1 win over Poland in Warsaw. Spain beat Switzerland 3-2In Group A4, Spain, already assured of qualification, beat last-placed Switzerland 3-2 in a match of penalty kicks in Tenerife. Yeremi Pino, a Canary Islander, sent Spain ahead on home territory after 32 minutes after Pedri’s penalty was saved. Joel Monteiro levelled for Switzerland but a few minutes later Bryan Gil stole the ball back to restore Spain’s lead. Andi Zeqiri fired home from the spot after a foul by Fabian Ruiz in the 85th minute but Bryan Zaragoza won and converted a late penalty ensured Spain could finish a spectacular year on a high.
Denmark secured second place in the group with a 0-0 draw in Serbia.
Also Read: Ronaldo scores 133rd goal for Portugal in 3-1 win over Poland
In Split, Portugal took a 33rd-minute lead when Joao Felix neatly finished a sharp counterattack. Rafael Leao then missed the target when clean through. With Scotland winning in Warsaw after a third-minute goal from John McGinn, set up by teenager Ben Doak, Croatia were heading out. Gvardiol, ghosting at the far post, had a header on 62 minutes disallowed for offside. He repeated the move three minutes later, sneaking in unmarked and onside to squeeze a close-range shot through Jose Sa.
Gvardiol, a defender, has three goals in his last six Premier League games for Manchester City. “It felt like two different games for us,” said Gvardiol. “In the first half, we seemed a bit tired and needed to make changes. The second half was much better — we had more energy, better control of the ball, and created more chances and we managed to score a goal,” he added.
Poland’s Piatkowski scores
Almost simultaneously in Warsaw, Kamil Piatkowski rocketed a cross shot into the top far corner of the Scottish goal to level for Poland. In the 73rd minute in Split, left-back Nuno Mendes nearly emulated Gvardiol for Portugal but goalie Dominik Livakovic blocked. In Warsaw, Andy Robertson headed home in added time to give Scotland a second win in four days, but Croatia comfortably saw out the draw.
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
Josko Gvardiol continued his scoring streak to earn Croatia a 1-1 home draw with Portugal on Monday that allowed them to squeak into the Nations League quarter-finals.
ADVERTISEMENT
Portugal had already sealed top spot in Group A1. The draw allowed Croatia to finish one point above Scotland who continued their late surge with a 2-1 win over Poland in Warsaw.
In Group A4, Spain, already assured of qualification, beat last-placed Switzerland 3-2 in a match of penalty kicks in Tenerife. Yeremi Pino, a Canary Islander, sent Spain ahead on home territory after 32 minutes after Pedri’s penalty was saved. Joel Monteiro levelled for Switzerland but a few minutes later Bryan Gil stole the ball back to restore Spain’s lead. Andi Zeqiri fired home from the spot after a foul by Fabian Ruiz in the 85th minute but Bryan Zaragoza won and converted a late penalty ensured Spain could finish a spectacular year on a high.
Denmark secured second place in the group with a 0-0 draw in Serbia.
Also Read: Ronaldo scores 133rd goal for Portugal in 3-1 win over Poland
In Split, Portugal took a 33rd-minute lead when Joao Felix neatly finished a sharp counterattack. Rafael Leao then missed the target when clean through. With Scotland winning in Warsaw after a third-minute goal from John McGinn, set up by teenager Ben Doak, Croatia were heading out. Gvardiol, ghosting at the far post, had a header on 62 minutes disallowed for offside. He repeated the move three minutes later, sneaking in unmarked and onside to squeeze a close-range shot through Jose Sa.
Gvardiol, a defender, has three goals in his last six Premier League games for Manchester City. “It felt like two different games for us,” said Gvardiol. “In the first half, we seemed a bit tired and needed to make changes. The second half was much better — we had more energy, better control of the ball, and created more chances and we managed to score a goal,” he added.
Almost simultaneously in Warsaw, Kamil Piatkowski rocketed a cross shot into the top far corner of the Scottish goal to level for Poland. In the 73rd minute in Split, left-back Nuno Mendes nearly emulated Gvardiol for Portugal but goalie Dominik Livakovic blocked. In Warsaw, Andy Robertson headed home in added time to give Scotland a second win in four days, but Croatia comfortably saw out the draw.
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
