Diogo Dalot grabbed a brace as Portugal thrashed Czech Republic 4-0 in Saturday’s UEFA Nations League game.
The Manchester United full-back opened the scoring after 33 minutes, with club-mate Bruno Fernandes doubling Portugal’s lead before Patrik Schick smashed a penalty over the bar following a VAR call at the end of the first half.
Dalot scored again shortly after the break, and Diogo Jota added gloss to the scoreline late on.
The result moved Portugal above Spain in the standings with one round of games left to play.
Meanwhile, Spain will have to win in Portugal if they are to reach the Nations League Finals after suffering a shock 2-1 home defeat to Switzerland in Group A2 on Saturday.
As Portugal cruised to a comfortable 4-0 win over Czech Republic, Luis Enrique’s side failed to make the most of their superiority in Zaragoza and slumped to a first defeat since the 2021 Nations League final loss to France.
Spain had great difficulty converting possession into a goal threat, at no point in the first half looking likely to cancel out Manuel Akanji’s opener.
Marco Asensio did inspire Jordi Alba’s equaliser early in the second half, but an Eric Garcia own goal almost instantly had them playing catch up again and a second equaliser never materialised.
Despite their dominance of the ball, Spain struggled to carve out chances and were behind in the 21st minute as Akanji met Ruben Vargas’ corner with a header that found the top-right corner.
It took 55 minutes for Spain to muster an accurate attempt and it brought the equaliser, with Alba hammering home after Asensio released him at the end of a brilliant solo run.
But the visitors quickly restored their lead – Garcia ultimately knocking into his own net following Akanji’s flick-on from another Vargas corner.
