Portugal came back from a goal down to beat ten-man Italy 5-1 in a match from Group A of the UEFA Under-19 Championship at the Centenary Stadium on Thursday.
A win which leaves Portugal with maximum points from two matches, securing a spot in the semi-finals.
The two teams shared the exchanges in the opening minutes with Italy taking the lead. However soon after conceding the equaliser, Italy had a player sent off and during the second half, Portugal were clearly a better side, scoring four goals without reply.
Italy took the lead on the 6th minute when off a quickly-taken short corner, Luis Hasa’s cross found Luca Lipani who rose high to head home.
Portugal, however, equalised on the 35th thanks to Rodrigo Ribeiro, served by Carlos Borges, who slotted the ball past goalkeeper Mastrantonio,
One minute from the end of the first half, Italy received a major setback as Lipani was sent off for elbowing an opponent.
Portugal took full advantage and twelve minutes in the second half, Rodrigo Ribeiro served Gustavo Sá who hit home.
Eleven minutes later, Gabriel Brás made it 3-1, rising home to head the ball home following a corner from the right.
One minute from time, Hugo Felix scored the fourth goal with a fine finish and one minute in added time, Joao Goncalves added another.
PORTUGAL Gonçalo Ribeiro, Gonçalo Esteves, António Ribeiro (85′ Luis Gomes), Gabriel Brás, Martim Marques (63′ Martim Fernandes), Nuno Félix, Carlos Borges, Gustavo Sá (63′ Joao Goncalves), Rodrigo Ribeiro (78′ Miguel Fale), Samuel Justo (63′ Diogo Prioste), Hugo Félix,
ITALY Davide Mastrantonio, Filippo Missori, Iacopo Regonesi, Lorenzo Dellavalle, Luis Hasa, Cher N’Dour (90′ Samuel Vignato), Michael Kayode, Luca Lipani, Nicolo Turco (60′ Pio Esposito), Niccolo Pisilli, Luca Koleosho (75′ Luca D’Andrea)
Referee: Sven Jablonski GER
Assistant referees: Robert Kempter GER, Aron Härsing EST
Fourth official: Joonas Jaanovits EST