Portugal and Ukraine close in on Euro 2020 with home wins
Soccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group B - Portugal v Luxembourg - Estadio Jose Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal - October 11, 2019 Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Rafael Marchante
LISBON (Reuters) - European champions Portugal and high-flying Ukraine edged closer to reaching next year's European Championship with comfortable home wins in qualifying Group B on Friday.
Ukraine sank Lithuania 2-0 to stay top of the group on 16 points from six games, followed by Portugal who are on 11 points from five matches after beating Luxembourg 3-0 with Cristiano Ronaldo among the scorers.
Third-placed Serbia have seven from five, Luxembourg have four points from six games and Lithuania are bottom with one point from six matches.
Soccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group B - Portugal v Luxembourg - Estadio Jose Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal - October 11, 2019 Portugal's Joao Felix in action with Luxembourg's Lars Gerson REUTERS/Rafael Marchante
The Portuguese, who visit Ukraine on Monday, missed a string of chances to win by a bigger margin. Top scorer Ronaldo had been hoping to get two strikes to reach the milestone of 700 goals at club and international level.
Ronaldo's one goal, the second for Portugal on the night, demonstrated his class when a defensive blunder allowed the Juventus forward to race clear and beat goalkeeper Anthony Moris with a delightful lob from the edge of the penalty area.
Moris produced a barrage of fine saves to keep the score respectable after Bernardo Silva pounced on a loose ball and steered it past two defenders on the line to fire the home side ahead in the 16th minute.
Soccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group B - Portugal v Luxembourg - Estadio Jose Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal - October 11, 2019 Portugal's Joao Felix in action with Luxembourg's Lars Gerson REUTERS/Rafael Marchante
Poor finishing coupled with Moris's heroics kept Portugal at bay before Ronaldo netted his 94th international goal to reach the 699 mark at senior level and Goncalo Guedes sealed the win with an 89th-minute effort.
Ukraine, who will qualify for Euro 2020 if they avoid defeat against Portugal on Monday, overpowered Lithuania thanks to a superb brace from Ruslan Malinovskiy.
The midfielder broke the deadlock with a crisp left-footed shot after a one-two with Junior Moraes and made it 2-0 with a brilliant free kick around the wall into the far corner.
Soccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group B - Portugal v Luxembourg - Estadio Jose Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal - October 11, 2019 Portugal's Nelson Semedo in action with Luxembourg's Gerson Rodrigues REUTERS/Rafael Marchante
In Monday's other fixture, Serbia must win in Lithuania to retain any realistic hopes of qualifying.
(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic; Editing by Xxxxx)
Soccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group B - Ukraine v Lithuania - Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv, Ukraine - October 11, 2019 Ukraine players shake hands with Lithuania players who look dejected after the match REUTERS/Valentyn OgirenkoSoccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group B - Ukraine v Lithuania - Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv, Ukraine - October 11, 2019 Ukraine's Oleksandr Zinchenko in action with Lithuania's Vytautas Andriuskevicius, Edvinas Girdvainis and Ovidijus Verbickas REUTERS/Valentyn OgirenkoSoccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group B - Ukraine v Lithuania - Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv, Ukraine - October 11, 2019 Ukraine's Marlos in action REUTERS/Valentyn OgirenkoSoccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group B - Ukraine v Lithuania - Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv, Ukraine - October 11, 2019 Ukraine's Sergiy Bolbat in action with Lithuania's Edvinas Girdvainis REUTERS/Valentyn OgirenkoSoccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group B - Ukraine v Lithuania - Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv, Ukraine - October 11, 2019 Ukraine's Ruslan Malinovskyi celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Valentyn OgirenkoSoccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group B - Ukraine v Lithuania - Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv, Ukraine - October 11, 2019 Ukraine's Andriy Yarmolenko in action with Lithuania's Ovidijus Verbickas REUTERS/Valentyn OgirenkoSoccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group B - Ukraine v Lithuania - Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv, Ukraine - October 11, 2019 Ukraine's Ruslan Malinovskyi celebrates scoring their second goal with team mates REUTERS/Valentyn OgirenkoSoccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group B - Portugal v Luxembourg - Estadio Jose Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal - October 11, 2019 Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo in action with Luxembourg's Laurent Jans REUTERS/Rafael MarchanteSoccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group B - Portugal v Luxembourg - Estadio Jose Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal - October 11, 2019 Luxembourg's Leandro Barreiro is shown a yellow card by referee Daniel Stefanski REUTERS/Rafael MarchanteSoccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group B - Portugal v Luxembourg - Estadio Jose Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal - October 11, 2019 Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo remonstrates with referee Daniel Stefanski REUTERS/Rafael MarchanteSoccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group B - Portugal v Luxembourg - Estadio Jose Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal - October 11, 2019 Portugal coach Fernando Santos reacts REUTERS/Rafael MarchanteSoccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group B - Portugal v Luxembourg - Estadio Jose Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal - October 11, 2019 Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo reacts on the ground REUTERS/Rafael Marchante
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