Bruno Fernandes and Gonçalo Guedes Fire Portugal Past Chile

Portugal overcame a stubborn Chile side to claim a 2-1 victory in their penultimate World Cup warm-up match on Saturday, although the scoreline only tells part of the story.

Despite dominating much of the contest at the Estádio Nacional do Jamor, Roberto Martínez’s side found Chile goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux in inspired form throughout the first half. The Swansea City shot-stopper denied Rúben Dias early on and later kept out Cristiano Ronaldo, while Rafael Leão also struck the post as Portugal pushed for an opener.

Ronaldo thought he had broken the deadlock before the interval, but his effort was ruled out for offside. The first half also saw tensions boil over in what was supposed to be a friendly encounter. Following a heated altercation involving João Cancelo and Maximiliano Falcón, Rafael Leão and Iván Román were both shown red cards after clashing off the ball.

Portugal continued to press after the break and finally got their reward in the 57th minute. Rúben Neves produced a superb through ball to pick out substitute Gonçalo Guedes, who calmly slotted beyond Vigouroux.

The hosts doubled their advantage midway through the second half when bruno-fernandes/220488" target="_black">Bruno Fernandes fired home from the edge of the box following a Chilean defensive mistake. The goal moved the Manchester United midfielder into Portugal’s top five all-time goalscorers alongside Nuno Gomes on 29 international goals.

Chile grabbed a late consolation through Lucas Cepeda in stoppage time, but Portugal comfortably saw out the victory ahead of their final pre-World Cup friendly against Nigeria.