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Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot brilliantly combined to break the deadlock for Portugal in their 2-1 win over Croatia.
Portugal hosted Croatia at Estádio da Luz in their opening Group A match of the Nations League.
Goals from Dalot and former United forward Cristiano Ronaldo were all the Selecao needed to sink Croatia and clinch all three points.
Dalot found the back of the net just seven minutes in when he arrived into a dangerous area and was found by his club captain, who produced a brilliant pass.
The full-back’s touch was exquisite as he got away from the defender before sending the ball into the back of the net, well past the reach of Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.
Dalot would go on to turn the ball into his own net just before the break but as it turned out, it didn’t matter too much for Portugal as they ran out winners.
During the time he was on the pitch, Dalot made two clearances and half as many interceptions.
The 25-year-old made an impressive three tackles. He delved into eight ground duels and came out on top just three times. He didn’t win the one aerial duel he was required to contest.
Dalot touched the ball 56 times and successfully found his Portugal teammates with 34 of the 39 passes he attempted. One of his passes was a key pass.
Meanwhile, Fernandes had 55 touches of the ball to his name and an individual pass completion rate of 91%. One pass was a key one – for Dalot’s opening strike. He also created one big chance.
The United skipper successfully connected with one of the two long balls he pinged. He attempted three shots, two of which required Livakovic to swing into action while the other didn’t trouble the Croatia shot-stopper.
Fernandes won just one of his five duels on the ground and none aerially. He made one tackle and two interceptions for his national side.
(Stats obtained from Sofascore)
Up next for Portugal is Scotland on Sunday.
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