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The former United loanee was able to smell the danger and come quickly for the ball just before Ronaldo could get on the end of it
Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo was fortunate to not be red carded during Portugal's 1-0 Euro 2024 qualifying win against Slovakia on Friday night.
The former Manchester United striker should have been sent off when he clapped into his former teammate Martin Dubravka’s face as he slid for the ball in the box.
Dubravka was able to smell the danger and come quickly for the ball just before Ronaldo could get on the end of it, but at the expense of getting his face smacked by the forward’s studs.
Instead, he escaped with a caution, which means he will miss his nation's next match against Luxembourg on Monday - the same penalty as he would have been awarded with a straight red - due to accumulating three red cards in Group J.
He apologised to Dubravka but many were left wondering why the Portugal captain wasn't sent off even after a VAR check. Despite the pain, the Slovakia keeper was able to see out the game.
Portugal held on to secure an away win thanks to Bruno Fernandes' delicious first-half strike from an acute angle - on his 29th birthday, no less.
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17:10 - 08.09.2023
FOOTBALL Former Harambee Stars coach shares his thoughts on Kenya’s victory over Qatar
The former Harambee Stars coach has explained what he thinks about Kenya’s outing in Doha which ended in victory for Engin Firat’s men
The victory leaves Portugal soaring at the top of Group J with five wins from five, having scored 15 and not conceded a goal.
This was the first defeat anybody had inflicted on Slovakia so far in qualifying for Euro 2024, as they sit second with 10 points.
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07:55 - 09.09.2023
FOOTBALL Harambee Stars: Why Firat must stick with Omurwa-Okumu partnership in central defence
The centre-back pairing of Joseph Okumu and Johnstone Omurwa produced many positives in Thursday's win against Qatar and the Stars coach must avoid the temptation of tinkering with it
Ronaldo already has five goals in qualifying, which places him joint-fourth best alongside Harry Kane and Zeki Amdouni.
The 38-year-old might not be happy to see Rasmus Hojlund, Romelu Lukaku and former Manchester United team-mate Scott McTominay leading the scoring charts on six.
Due to his build-up of yellow cards, he will not be able to add to his tally against Luxembourg.
Luxembourg are an increasingly strong footballing nation, and are level on points with Slovakia, but Martinez's side beat them 6-0 lats time out and their talisman bagged a brace.
09:36 - 09.09.2023
'The truth will come out soon'- Tearful Antony maintains innocence amidst accusations of sexual assault on three women
The Man United winger was tearful on Brazilian television, speaking out for the first time since two more women accused him of assaulting them sexually on Monday night.
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