Bruno Fernandes makes his mark in 50th Portugal outing

With the scores level at 1-1, Fernandes, on his 50th senior international outing, first set up Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix with an incisive through ball through the African nation’s defence. 

Less than three minutes later, our playmaker was then on hand to provide again, this time for Milan’s Rafael Leao, who netted what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the Group H contest in Doha.

 

Bruno Fernandes’ game by numbers vs. Ghana:

100% aerial duels won
94% pass accuracy
66 touches
5/6 long balls completed
4 ground duels won
3 key passes
2 big chances created
2 assists

Crucial contribution. 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/aTCbfPYEEH

— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) November 24, 2022

It was 0-0 until the 65th minute when Cristiano Ronaldo converted from the penalty spot to open the scoring, before Andre Ayew drew Ghana level shortly after. 

Fernandes’s pass to Felix was a goal worthy of putting Portugal back ahead before our no.8 then slid in Leao, who would make no mistake. 

Osman Bukari netted late on to pull it back to 3-2, as a frantic second half continued, but the Europeans would hold on to secure all three points at Stadium 974. 

The assists mean Bruno now has six goal contributions in his last four international outings, having most recently scored a brace in a warm-up friendly against Nigeria. 

Fernandes was also booked late on for a foul as Fernando Santos’s side attempted to run down the clock. 

His United and Portugal team-mate Diogo Dalot was an unused substitute and therefore continues to await his World Cup debut, which could come during their outing against Uruguay on matchday two. 

That fixture with the South Americans, who drew 0-0 with South Korea in their opener earlier, comes on Monday (19:00 GMT).