Cristiano Ronaldo the difference as Portugal edge out Morocco in a 1-0 win

Morocco were the better team, hands-down, but their failure to find the net has condemned them to an early exit from the tournament.

Full-time report

Football can be so cruel at times. It looked like the Moroccans prepared for everything. Almost. Because you can't prepare against destiny, and you can't prepare for Cristiano Ronaldo either, apparently. Morocco are out of the FIFA World Cup 2018 after losing their second match today against Portugal in Group B of the FIFA World Cup 2018 at the Luzhniki Stadium. They'd be especially sore about it because they lost the two matches despite playing arguably better than their opponents. But then again, luck wasn't on their side and neither was Ronaldo, who made all the difference.

Morocco were dominant in nearly every area of the game, except in the final third, where they missed a decisive scorer like Cristiano Ronaldo. Morocco exit the tournament with no goals to their name (except an own goal) despite taking 16 (13 vs Iran and 3 vs Portugal) shots. They had more touches inside the Portugal box than even the mighty Spaniards had managed. And despite all that, they bow out of the tournament.

Ronaldo scored his fourth goal of the tournament in the fourth minute when Portugal earned a corner. Bernaro Silva took a short corner from which Moutinho sent in a cross. Ronaldo, diving, got at the end of the delivery, giving his team the lead. As much as it was Ronaldo being the fox-in-the-box, Morocco too had been guilty of shoddy defending, with Ronaldo left unmarked, a grave sin.

Morocco responded well to going down a goal. They moved the ball around really well and their interplay game in the final third was brilliant too. They carved out chances but just could not hit the back of the net, with captain Medhi Benatia himself missing a series of chances. Portugal, on the other hand, threatened when on the break, with most of their attack going through Ronaldo.

Portugal had another chance in the 38th minute, when Ronaldo chested a ball and lifted it into the path of Goncalo Guedes, leaving him with only goalkeeper Mounir Mohamedi to beat. But, Guedes could only hit the ball straight at Mounir who swatted it with one hand. 

If the first half belonged to Morocco, they upped their game even more in the second half, looking for that elusive goal -- the equaliser. Portugal hardly had a sinff of the ball and were reduced to defending the countless chances Morocco created for themselves. They came very close to scoring one in the 57th minute when Belhanda jumped for a downward header. It seemed destined to find the back of the net, only that Portugal keeper Rui Patricio dived to his right and tipped it over the bar to maintain Portugal's lead.

The rest of the second half was all about Morocco attacking and missing the chances while Portugal couldn't even test the Morrocan keeper. But despite all that, when the referee blew the final whistle in the 95th minute, it was the Portuguese who celebrated while the Moroccan players and fans could only be frustrated about their fate.

Portugal next face Iran but they know this quality won't do. Ronaldo has been the saviour of an otherwise mediocre team, should the captain have an off day, Portugal will be exposed. As for Morocco, they have only their pride to play for when they face Spain next week before heading home.

Live updates: 

Minute 95 -- Peeeeepppppp! That's it. Full-time. Portugal 1-Morocco 0.

Minute 92 -- Chance again for Morocco. Miss again. Benatia again. There seems to be a pattern here. The Moroccan defender takes a shot from inside the box but overpowers it and it flies over the post.

Minute 90-- Ziyech receives the ball inside the box, skips past a couple of players and takes a shot from the right which deflects off Pepe Oh, how the luck fairy has evaded the Moroccans. Five minutes in injury-time.

Minute 88-- Portugal substitution: Adrien Silva on, Moutinho off

Minute 82 -- Portugal get a free-kick at the very edge of the box as Benatia brings down Ronaldo who was readying to take a shot. Ronaldo takes the free-kick and hits it directly at the wall.

Minute 81-- Nabil Dirar lets one fly from outside the box after Pepe heads a Morocco corner out, inadverently handling the ball in the process.

Minute 77-- Another chance goes begging for Morocco as they get a free-kick outside the box and Benatia heads the ball wide from inside the box.

Minute 75 -- Morocco make another change. Belhanda is replaced by Carcela.

Minute 69 -- Morocco make a change. Boutabi makes way for El Kaabi.Joao Mario is replaced by Bruno Fernandes for Portugal.

Minute 67 -- Morocco get a free-kick at the edge of the box. Ziyech takes the resulting free-kick and it flies slightly over the post.

Minute 65: Guerreiro booked for pulling down Amrabat.

Minute 60 -- Benatia heads a free-kick delivery over the bar.

Minute 59 -- First change for Portugal as Gelson Martins enters the field to replace Bernardo Silva.

Minute 50 -- Morocco survive a scare. Joao Mario dribbles around the byline and pulls it back for Silva who mishits it. The ball rolls out to onrushing Ronaldo who takes a shot which has a lot of power but lacks in accuracy.

Minute 47 -- Portugal get a corner and again take a shot-corner (which seems to be the flavour of the day), before sending in a outswining cross inside the box. Jose Fonte gets at the end of it but heads it well off-target.

Second-half begins



Half-time analysis:

Half-time analysis: As was expected, Cristiano Ronaldo is the difference between Portugal and Morocco in the second match in Group B of the FIFA World Cup 2018 here at the Luzhniki Stadium. The Portuguese scored his fourth goal of the tournament in the fourth minute when Portugal earned a corner. Bernaro Silva took a short corner from which Moutinho sent in a cross. Ronaldo, diving, got at the end of the delivery, giving his team the lead. As much as it was Ronaldo being the fox in the box, Morocco too had been guilt of shoddy defending, with Ronaldo left unmarked, a grave sin.

Although, Morocco have responded well to going down a goal. They are moving around the ball really well and their interplay game in the final third is goal too. What they miss is a goalscorer like Ronaldo as they have carved out chances but none of them being clear-cut. Portugal, on the other hand, have been more threatening when they break, with most of their attack going through Ronaldo.

Portugal had another chance in the 38th minute, when Ronaldo chested a ball and lifted it into the path of Goncalo Guedes, leaving him with only goalkeeper Mounir Mohamedi to beat. But, Guedes could only hit the ball straight at Mounir who swatted it with one hand. 

Morocco have been more threatening, like they were in their opening game against Iran, but they are losing by a goal, like they did against Iran. However, they have an entire half to change that, and they should make a meak against this slow Portugal defence.

Live updates:

Minute 46 -- Morocco get a free-kick on the right-hand side of the box. Younes Belhanda swings the ball into the box, and Hakim Ziyech heads it beyond the goal post.

Minute 38 (Chance!)-- Mounir Mohamedi with a one-hand stop from Goncalo Guedes who receives the ball inside the box after a deft little touch from Ronaldo. Morocco survive.

Minute 31-- Morocco concede a free-kick just outside the box. Ronaldo steps up to take it and hits straight at the wall.

Minute 26--  A moment of controversy. Amrabat tacks a long ball and as tries to skip past Raphael Guerreiro and into the box, the Portuguese midfielder pressures Amrabat who goes down inside the box. The Moroccan players appeal for a penalty but the referee isn't interested.

Minute 19-- Morocco are moving around the ball really well and their interplay game in the final third is good too.

Minute 16 -- Morocco are pressing relentlessly as they respond to an early goal but their attacks aren't coming to anything despite a slow Portugal defence.

Minute 8-- Ronaldo again! The striker gets the ball on the right-hand side of the box and manages a shot which misses the left-hand

 corner of the goalpost by a whisker. Phew!

Minute 4 (GOAL, CRISTIANO RONALDO) -- Bernardo Silva earns a corner for Portugal, takes a shot corner to Moutinho who sends a cross into the box. Who else but Ronaldo dives, sending a header into the net. Portugal lead within five minutes, and it's their captain again who has done the trick.

Peeeeppppp!!!

Kick-off!

Line-ups out:

Portugal vs Morocco

Match preview: Portugal will once again look at their talisman striker and captain Cristiano Ronaldo to power them to a win when they clash today against 41st ranked Morocco in the second match in Group B of the FIFA World Cup 2018 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Russia's Moscow. Their trust isn't misplaced either with Ronaldo looking in red-hot form, first in the final stages of the Champions League and then, more pertinently, in their World Cup opener match against Spain when he scored a brilliant hat-trick to earn his team a valuable draw. But then again, Portugal are not just a one-man team with other players like Bernardo Silva and Andre Silva able to single-handedly turn the fortunes of a match. If Portugal win today's game, they'd stand a good chance to advance from the group stage.

On the other hand, Morocco, who sit at the bottom of group B, will virtually exit the tournament if they fail to win today's clash, having lost to Saudi Arabia after conceding an own-goal late in the match despite having dominated for the better half of the match.

ALSO READ: King of Madrid silences Spain; Ronaldo scores three in Portugal-Spain draw

Head-to-head: Morocco defeated Portugal 3-1 in their only previous encounter in the group stage of the 1986 World Cup. It was Morocco's first-ever win at the tournament while Portugal's only defeat in the World Cup against the African opposition.

When and where to watch:

The match will be telecasted live in English on SONY TEN 2, in Hindi on SONY TEN 3 and in Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu on SONY ESPN.

Time: 5.30 PM IST

For live streaming, the match can be streamed at sonyliv.com

 

Trivia:

-- Cristiano Ronaldo had scored three goals from 70 shots in his previous three World Cup tournaments combined for Portugal (2006, 2010 and 2014) – at the 2018 World Cup, he has scored three goals from just four shots. (Source: OptaJoe)

-- Portugal’s only defeat against African opposition at the World Cup came against Morocco in 1986 (1-3) – they’ve won two and drawn one of their subsequent three games against them. (Source: OptaJoe)

-- Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first Portugal player since José Torres in 1966 to score a goal with his right foot, left foot and head in a single World Cup tournament. (Source: OptaJoe)

Portugal 23-man squad:

Goalkeepers: Anthony Lopes , Beto , Rui Patricio

Defenders: Bruno Alves , Cedric Soares, Jose Fonte, Mario Rui , Pepe , Raphael Guerreiro , Ricardo Pereira , Ruben Dias

Midfielders: Adrien Silva , Bruno Fernandes , Joao Mario , Joao Moutinho, Manuel Fernandes , William Carvalho

Forwards: Andre Silva , Bernardo Silva , Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Gelson Martins , Goncalo Guedes, Ricardo Quaresma

Formation and tactics: Portugal started their last match in a 4-4-2 with Goncalo Guedes preferred over Andre Silva to partner Ronaldo. Patricio kept the goal while Soares, Pepe, Fonte, Guerreiro lined up in defence. Bernardo Silva, Ricardo Carvalho, Joao Moutinho, and Bruno Fernandes manned the defence.

Key player: Cristiano Ronaldo

 

Morocco 23-man squad:

Goalkeepers: Mounir Mohamedi , Yassine Bounou , and Ahmad Reda Tagnaouti

Defenders: Mehdi Benatia , Romain Saiss , Manuel Da Costa , Nabil Dirar , Achraf Hakimi , Hamza Mendyl.

Midfielders: Mbark Boussoufa , Karim El Ahmadi, Youssef Ait Bennasser, Sofyan Amrabat , Younes Belhanda, Faycal Fajr , and Amine Harit.

Forwards: Khalid Boutaib , Aziz Bouhaddouz , Ayoub El Kaabi , Nordin Amrabat, Mehdi Carcela , Hakim Ziyech, and Youssef En Nesyri .

Formation and tactics: The north African country lined up in a 3-4-3 in their match against Iran. Monir El Kajoul kept the goal while Achraf Hakimi, Mehdi Benatia, and Romain Saiss made the defence. Hakim Ziyach, Karim El Ahmadi, Younes Belhanda, and Mbark Boussoufa started in the midfield. Noureddine Amrabat, Amine Harit, and Ayoub El Kabbi took up the attacking responsibilities of the game. Juventus centre-back Medhi Benatia is the captain and the star player. Morocco play a 4-3-3, with one of the central midfielders pushing up to support attacks from the hole. Morocco likes to defend well and then break at pace.

Key players: Captain Medhi Benatia. Hakin Ziyech for creativity.