Ronaldo--sportstiger

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On the back of a brace from Cristiano Ronaldo and a goal each from William Carvalho and Joao Cancelo, Portugal swept Switzerland 4-0 in their UEFA Nations League clash at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon on Sunday. Although the hosts missed a few opportunities to make the difference even bigger, it was a big humiliation for the visitors as they suffered their biggest defeat since losing to Germany by the same scoreline in 2008.

With this win over Switzerland, Portugal has four points from its opening two Group A2 matches and is ahead of second-placed Czech Republic on goal-difference. Meanwhile, Switzerland is on zero after back-to-back losses and has now suffered four losses on the trot after it qualified for the World Cup in Qatar.

Coming to the game, William Carvalho opened the scoring for Portugal as he reacted quickest to the loose ball when Ronaldo's free-kick was parried in the 15th minute. Cristiano Ronaldo then took over and scored two goals in quick succession (35th and 39th minute). The Portuguese forward almost got a hat-trick but he wasted two excellent opportunities before halftime, the first a barely believable miss from six yards. Nonetheless, with these two goals, Ronaldo took his tally of international goals to 117.

The fourth goal for Portugal came in the 68th minute when Joao Cancelo tricked the Swiss goalie near the nets. Now, Portugal hosts the Czech Republic in their next fixture on Thursday, while Switzerland entertains Spain in Geneva on the same evening.

Spain vs Czech Republic ends in a draw

The other clash on Sunday, between Spain and Czech Republic, ended in a 2-2 draw. Jakub Pesek put the hosts in front before Gavi leveled with a low curling left-footer at the record age of 17 years and 304 days just before halftime. Jan Kuchta had the Czechs back in control with a delicate chip but Athletic Bilbao defender Inigo Martinez headed home in the final minute to salvage a 2-2 draw.