Azerbaijan 0-2 Portugal
2015 UEFA U-21 Euro Qualification
The Portuguese Under-21 team continued their perfect start in 2015 UEFA U-21 Euro qualification on Tuesday with a convincing 2-0 win in Azerbaijan. Goals from Rafa and Ivan Cavaleiro were enough to ensure the victory, the third for the team in qualification thus far. Portugal has scored 10, while only conceding once. They sit atop the group, having already played (and beaten) the second, third, and fourth placed teams, with only bottom-of-the-table Macedonia still to be faced. In other words, qualification seems extremely likely.
The game began brightly for the visitors, as was predicted before the match. And that was how it continued: the Seleccao controlling the match and creating the majority of the chances. Ivan Cavaleiro was at the end of much of the flow of traffic, which is of little surprise given his burgeoning reputation as of late. Though Portugal was on top, both teams went into the locker-room at halftime on level terms at 0-0. Soon after the break, however, the scoring was opened by Rafa. Some neat interplay opened Bruma for a shot. His low shot was parried by the opposition goalkeeper directly into the path of Rafa, who could not have had an easier finish. Soon after, Ivan Cavaleiro doubled Portugal’s advantage. A neat ball over the top put Cavaleiro clean in on goal, and the winger finished well. That was how the game ended: 2-0 in favor of Portugal.
Jose Sa, Raphael Guerreiro, Ricardo Esgaio, Paulo Oliveira, Tiago Ilori, Tiago Silva(Luis Gustavo), Rafa, Sergio Oliveira(Bernardo Silva), William Carvalho, Ivan Cavaleiro, Ricardo(Betinho)