Goncalo Ramos Scores Winner as Portugal Beat Norway 2-1
Sports Correspondent: Imran Sohail
OSLO: Portugal began their UEFA Nations League title defence with a second consecutive victory after defeating Norway 2-1 in Oslo on Sunday.
Goncalo Ramos, who started in place of Cristiano Ronaldo, scored the decisive goal after Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland made a costly mistake.
Portugal had already opened their campaign with a 1-0 victory over Wales on Thursday and followed it up with another important result against Norway.
Ronaldo was named among the substitutes but did not feature in the match. It was the first time since September 2024 that he had been left on Portugal’s bench in a Nations League fixture.
Portugal took the lead in the 17th minute when Joao Felix found the bottom corner with a well-placed effort from outside the penalty area.
Norway had opportunities to respond, with Erling Haaland causing problems for the Portuguese defence. The Manchester City striker saw one effort saved by Diogo Costa, while Ruben Dias produced an important block to deny another chance.
Costa then made another strong save shortly before half-time to keep Portugal ahead.
Haaland eventually found the equaliser six minutes into the second half. He converted Patrick Berg’s header across the face of goal to make it 1-1.
Portugal quickly restored their advantage through Ramos.
Nyland attempted to deal with a long ball but passed it directly to Ramos, who calmly lifted the ball over the goalkeeper and into the empty net.
Portugal came close to adding a third when Rafael Leao’s effort took a deflection and struck the crossbar.
Ramos appeared to score again late in the match after taking advantage of another error from Nyland, but the goal was ruled out by VAR for a marginal offside.
Norway pushed forward in search of another equaliser and even sent Nyland into the attack during the closing stages. However, Portugal held on to secure all three points.
The victory gives Portugal two wins from their opening two Group A4 matches, while Norway were unable to build on their 3-2 victory over Denmark in their first game
