October 16, (THEWILL) – Scotland held Portugal to a goalless draw in their Nations League match at Hampden Park on Tuesday, avoiding a fifth consecutive competitive defeat. The result marked Scotland’s first point in the top tier of the Nations League, whilst Portugal remain atop Group A1.
Craig Gordon, the 41-year-old Scottish goalkeeper, made a crucial save in the closing stages to deny Bruno Fernandes a winning goal for Portugal. The match saw Cristiano Ronaldo make his 200th start for Portugal in his 216th international appearance, but the 39-year-old forward failed to add to his tally of 133 international goals.
Scotland’s performance demonstrated improvement, despite having won only one of their last 16 matches – a friendly victory against Gibraltar in June. The Scottish side created an early opportunity when Scott McTominay headed towards goal from close range, but Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Costa managed to save the attempt.
Portugal dominated possession throughout the match but struggled to create clear scoring opportunities. Francisco Conceicao missed a chance early in the second half, whilst Ronaldo narrowly missed the target with a powerful shot later in the game. The match concluded with Ronaldo expressing frustration towards the officials as he left the pitch.
With this result, Scotland remain in danger of relegation from the top tier of the Nations League, trailing Poland by three points with two matches remaining. Croatia currently occupy second place in the group, three points behind Portugal, whom they will host next month.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
