Cristiano Ronaldo once again showcased why Portugal still need him in their playing XI with a late winner against Scotland in a 2-1 win. Ronaldo came on as a second-half substitute with Portugal trailing 0-1. Minutes later, he struck both posts within a matter of seconds, and was dangerous throughout the second-half.

After Scott McTominaty scored in the seventh-minute, alarm bells began to ring for Portugal, but then Bruno Fernandes equalised in the 54th-minute.

In the 88th-minute with the score level at 1-1, left-back Nuno Mendes managed to dribble past an opponent and put in a low cross, which got deflected off Diogo Jota’s foot and fell for Ronaldo, with the goalkeeper absent. It was a simple tap-in for Ronaldo as Portugal completed a 2-1 win.

Here is the video of Ronaldo’s goal:

Commenting on Ronaldo’s impact, Bruno Fernandes said, “The influence is always the same, regardless of whether he starts on the bench or not.”

“Everyone who came on made the difference. Cristiano has a goal, today he scored 901 and now he’s on his way to a thousand, which is what he wants,” he added.

Portugal are on top of League A Group 1 with six points, having already beaten Croatia in their opener. Croatia are second with three points. Scotland have lost both matches, crashing to late goals.

In their previous match, Scotland lost 2-3 to Poland, but were inspired in the first-half vs Portugal as former Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay came at the back post to convert an excellent cross by Kenny McLean.

After McTominay’s goal, Portugal kept on threatening Scotland, but Angus Gunn made some extraordinary saves to keep the score at 1-0 till half-time. Before half-time, Portugal had 15 goal attempts, but Scotland absorbed the pressure.

Then Gunn was beaten in the 54th-minute, with Fernandes converting for the hosts. The hosts could have got the lead before Ronaldo’s winner, with Joao Felix missing twice.