Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal for Portugal on Wednesday as they eliminated Morocco from the World Cup in their second Group B clash.
The match was off to a flying start as Cristiano Ronaldo found the back of the Moroccan net in the fourth minute. Bernardo Silva took a short corner to Moutinho and he crossed towards the six-yard area where Ronaldo was on hand to head home with aplomb for the early lead. The goal also made the Portuguese the highest scoring European player in history.
At the other end of the pitch, the North Africans threatened to level matters in the 12th minute. Ziyach sent a corner kick towards the far post where Da Costa made room for himself to head the ball on goal, but Rui Patricio was up to the task.
Morocco were calling for a penalty in the 26th minute when Amrabat made his way into the Portugal box before going to ground under pressure from Raphael Guerreiro, but the referee was having none of it.
Portugal were under pressure again on the stroke of half-time. Ziyach produced a wonderful free-kick that found Belhanda, who glanced a header goalwards, but it was going just wide and no one could get the decisive touch to direct the ball on target.
The Atlas Lions continued piling the pressure on Portugal in the second half, but it was their poor finishing that let them down. Amrabat marauded down the right flank 10 minutes into the second stanza and fed Belhanda, but his shot was not good enough to beat Patricio.
There was another great chance for Morocco when Ziyach curled in a free-kick from the right and picked out Belhanda but his headed effort was brilliantly saved by Patricio.
Ronaldo put some pressure back on Morocco in the last 10 minutes and appealed for a penalty when he went down after slight contact with a defender but the referee waved it away.
Ziyach and Benassia had good chances in the dying minutes of the game but both of their shots lacked composure and went flying into the crowd as Morocco slumped to defeat, effectively ending their World Cup hopes.
The result saw Portugal take top spot in Group B, while Morocco are bottom after two defeats.
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