Ronaldo scores historic brace as Portugal thrash Uzbekistan to top Group K

The Portuguese nearly engineered the perfect start after two minutes, when Bruno Fernandes swivelled on the ball in the box and fired off a snapshot that needed to be blocked.

Moments later, Cristiano Ronaldo was mere inches away from connecting with a teasing Nuno Mendes cross, beating the ground in frustration as it whizzed beyond his outstretched boot.

But he was on his toes for the next delivery – this time from the other side – darting across his marker at the near post and powering it past Abduvohid Nematov for his record-setting goal.

Mendes did his best to ensure there would be no repeat of the fade out Portugal experienced against DR Congo, when he caught out the Uzbeks with a clever free kick, bending it left-footed past the goalkeeper while the whole stadium waited for Ronaldo to take it.

After the hydration break, a bolt from the blue courtesy of Aziz Ganiev looked to have halved the deficit in spectacular style, but a VAR review chalked it off for a foul in the build-up.

Ronaldo then settled the issue before HT with his second strike of the game, finding the corner unerringly after a smart Fernandes pass.

Having overtaken Eusébio as his nation’s leading WC scorer, Ronaldo almost had time to complete a first-half hat-trick, but Abdukodir Khusanov hooked his inventive chip off the line.

Into the second period, a second clever free-kick routine presented the 41-year-old with another chance, but the onrushing Nematov denied him smartly after his run had bamboozled the defence.

However, the resulting corner was driven in low by Fernandes, bouncing in via Khusanov and then Nematov for an unfortunate own goal. 

A cheap giveaway by the embattled Nematov then looked certain to give Ronaldo his third and his team’s fifth, but having charged down the kick, the veteran was unable to supply the finish that would have been the icing on the cake.

Instead, that was provided by Rafael Leão, who compounded the misery for Uzbekistan with an emphatic finish from the edge of the box.

Fabio Cannavaro won all three of his matches against Portugal as a player, but this painful defeat means that the Uzbeks are now relying on a spot as one of the best third-placed teams – a faint hope that would be extinguished entirely if DR Congo defeat Colombia later.

As for Portugal, Roberto Martínez’s side have now won 11 of their last 15 games, and will hope their win in Houston proves to be the lift-off for their tournament.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

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