Goncalo Ramos started in place of Cristiano Ronaldo and scored the decisive goal as Portugal beat Norway 2-1 in Oslo on Sunday, giving the holders back-to-back wins to open their UEFA Nations League title defence.
The match opened with Portugal ahead in the 17th minute when Joao Felix finished from the edge of the box. Norway responded early in the second half when Erling Haaland tapped in from Patrick Berg’s header across goal to level the score.
Portugal regained the lead moments later after Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland passed the ball straight to Ramos, who chipped the loose ball into an empty net. A later VAR review ruled out another opportunistic Ramos effort for offside. Portugal pushed for a third, with Rafael Leao seeing a shot deflected onto the crossbar, but Norway could not find a second equaliser.
Goalkeeper Diogo Costa was prominent for Portugal. He saved an early mishit volley from Haaland, recovered from a spill that allowed Haaland a sight of goal until a Ruben Dias block prevented a certain finish, and made another strong stop from Haaland just before half-time.
The 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo was named among the substitutes, for the first time since a Nations League match against Scotland in September 2024, and did not enter the game as coach Jorge Jesus managed players’ minutes across an expanded international break.
Norway, fresh from a 3-2 win over Denmark in their opening group game, wasted several chances and threw bodies forward in the closing stages, including Nyland, but could not force a leveller.
Ramos, speaking to Sport TV after the match, said: “It’s a great win on a difficult away trip. It’s been a great start [for new boss Jorge Jesus]. We’re working together and taking the manager’s ideas on board well. From here on, it’s all about improving and ironing out the kinks. We want to win every game. We’re always focused on victory in every match.” The comments were reported by Al Jazeera and Vanguard.
The match details and post-match quotes were reported by Al Jazeera and Vanguard. For the full match reports see Al Jazeera and Vanguard.
Featured image: Saggittarius A via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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