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World Cup 2018: Portugal 1-0 Morocco highlights
Cristiano Ronaldo continued his sensational start to the World Cup with the winner as Portugal knocked Morocco out of the tournament.
All eyes at the Luzhniki Stadium were on the Real Madrid star after his hat-trick in Portugal's opening game with Spain and, typically, he did not disappoint.
It took the captain only four minutes to make his mark in the way Morocco had feared, diving to get on the end of a Joao Moutinho cross and planting an unstoppable header into the net.
Ronaldo's goal put the European champions briefly top of Group B and extended his lead as the top scorer in Russia in the race for the Golden Boot.
Spain's 1-0 win over Iran, means they top the group courtesy of having collected fewer disciplinary points than Portugal.
- How the players rated
Morocco, who last week failed in their bid to host the 2026 World Cup, became the first team to be eliminated from this one with one Group B game to go - but they did not go down without a fight.
Backed by thousands of noisy fans, who packed one end of the ground, they created enough chances to earn at least a draw - and would have got something out of the game with better finishing.
Too many of their shots flew wide, however, and the one time the North Africans did find the target with an effort of note, new Wolves keeper Rui Patricio produced a brilliant one-handed diving save to keep out Younes Belhanda's header.
The North African nation, beaten 1-0 by Iran in their opening game, are playing at the World Cup for the first time in 20 years.
Ronaldo again shows why Portugal rely on him
Ronaldo has been the undoubted star of the first week of this tournament and he ensured he will stay in the headlines with another decisive contribution.
He was the centre of attention from the moment his image flashed up on the huge screens, cheered by the Portugal fans and others who had travelled to Moscow solely to watch him - and jeered by the Morocco fans.
The 33-year-old's performance was not as spectacular as the one he produced about Spain, but he again showed why his team rely upon him so heavily.
Of Portugal's eight shots, he had six of them - including the one that mattered the most.
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It had to be him! Brilliant Ronaldo scores in fourth minute
Ronaldo's other contributions, other than the flicked pass that released Goncalo Guedes to force a fine stop from Munir Mohamedi, were more fitful, but the intelligence of his movement and sheer presence up front meant he remained a threat.
There were no more magic moments, however, to the disappointment of the thousands in the crowd who recorded his two free-kicks from the edge of the area with their smartphones, only to see him smash them into Morocco's defensive wall.
Portugal offered little else in the way of a threat, and defensively the number of problems Morocco caused them must be a concern for their coach Fernando Santos, with bigger tests likely ahead.
But Ronaldo's Russian roadshow rolls into Saransk on Monday, and shows no sign of stopping.
Morocco out but not disgraced
Morocco now know they will be heading home after the group stage, but they will not depart in disgrace.
They gave their fervent support plenty to cheer in the Moscow sunshine and, just as in their opening defeat by Iran, can count themselves unlucky to leave left empty-handed.
The talk before the game was whether Herve Renard's side had a plan to stop Ronaldo and, while the former Cambridge United manager did not manage that, he did find a way to open up the Portugal defence.
Sadly for Morocco, they failed to capitalise when they found themselves in front of goal - of their 15 shots, four were on target, and only two truly tested Patricio.
The worst culprit was Mehdi Benatia, the Juventus defender who was tasked with tracking Ronaldo. He got forward too, but blasted wide when well placed and also missed the target with a header.
Morocco's defeat means African sides have lost five of their six games at this tournament, with Senegal's win over Poland the continent's only success so far.
Man of the match - Cristiano Ronaldo
Already the oldest man to score a hat-trick at the World Cup, Ronaldo's header saw him become the highest European international goalscorer in history with 85 goals. The only player to have scored more is Iran's Ali Daei, with 109'We have to earn more possession' - what they said
Portugal boss Fernando Santos: "It's a World Cup. This is a strong team, as were Morocco, but we have to grow.
"We did well defensively and we played well, but we need more than that. We have to change and earn more possession."
Morocco boss Herve Renard: "We qualified for a World Cup after 20 years and we've showed that we can play football."
Set-piece specialists - the stats
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After scoring 13 successive goals from open play at the World Cup, three of Portugal's four goals at 2018 have been from set-pieces.
Morocco have lost seven of their past nine World Cup matches (W1 D1), failing to score in five of those games.
Portugal have not lost against a non-European nation at a World Cup since June 2002, when they lost 1-0 to South Korea (W6 D3 since).
Morocco have lost their opening two group games in three World Cups (also 1970 and 1994).
Portugal have lost only one of their past 11 World Cup group games (4-0 v Germany in 2014), winning six and drawing the other four.
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored Portugal's past five goals in World Cups, the first player to do so since Russia's Oleg Salenko in 1994.
Portugal kept a clean sheet in a World Cup match for the first time since 2010, when they kept three in three group games - they had conceded in five consecutive games prior to this game.
What's next?
Portugal will look to finish top of the group by beating Iran in Saransk on 25 June (19:00 BST), while Morocco face Spain in Kaliningrad at the same time.
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Line-ups
Match Stats
Live Text
Line-ups
Portugal
1Rui Patrício
21Cédric Soares
3Pepe
6José Fonte
5Guerreiro
11Bernardo SilvaSubstituted forGelson Martinsat 59'minutes
8João MoutinhoSubstituted forAdrien Silvaat 89'minutesBooked at 90mins
14William Carvalho
10João MárioSubstituted forBruno Fernandesat 70'minutes
17Gonçalo Guedes
7Cristiano Ronaldo
Substitutes
2Bruno Alves
4Manuel Fernandes
9André Silva
12Lopes
13Rúben Dias
15Ricardo Pereira
16Bruno Fernandes
18Gelson Martins
19Mário Rui
20Ricardo Quaresma
22Beto
23Adrien Silva
Morocco
12Mohamedi
17Dirar
5BenatiaBooked at 40mins
4da Costa
2Hakimi
8El AhmadiSubstituted forFajrat 86'minutes
14Boussoufa
16N Amrabat
10BelhandaSubstituted forCarcela-Gonzálezat 75'minutes
7Ziyech
13BoutaïbSubstituted forEl Kaabiat 69'minutes
Substitutes
1Bono
3Mendyl
6Saïss
9El Kaabi
11Fajr
18Harit
19En-Nesyri
20Bouhaddouz
21S Amrabat
22Tagnaouti
23Carcela-González
Referee:
Mark Geiger
Attendance:
78,011
Match Stats
Home TeamPortugalAway TeamMorocco
Possession
Home45%
Away55%
Shots
Home10
Away15
Shots on Target
Home2
Away4
Corners
Home5
Away7
Fouls
Home19
Away23
Live Text
Posted at
Match ends, Portugal 1, Morocco 0.
Full TimePosted at 90'+6'
Second Half ends, Portugal 1, Morocco 0.
Posted at 90'+5'
Attempt missed. Bruno Fernandes (Portugal) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Gelson Martins.
Posted at 90'+3'
Corner, Portugal. Conceded by Medhi Benatia.
Posted at 90'+3'
Attempt missed. Medhi Benatia (Morocco) left footed shot from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Ayoub El Kaabi following a set piece situation.
BookingPosted at 90'+2'
Adrien Silva (Portugal) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Posted at 90'+2'
Nordin Amrabat (Morocco) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 90'+2'
Foul by Adrien Silva (Portugal).
Posted at 90'+1'
Hand ball by Mehdi Carcela-González (Morocco).
Posted at 90'
Corner, Morocco. Conceded by Pepe.
Posted at 90'
Attempt blocked. Hakim Ziyech (Morocco) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
SubstitutionPosted at 89'
Substitution, Portugal. Adrien Silva replaces João Moutinho.
Posted at 88'
Foul by Moubarak Boussoufa (Morocco).
Posted at 88'
João Moutinho (Portugal) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Posted at 87'
Foul by Faycal Fajr (Morocco).
Posted at 87'
William Carvalho (Portugal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
SubstitutionPosted at 86'
Substitution, Morocco. Faycal Fajr replaces Karim El Ahmadi.
Posted at 85'
Attempt blocked. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Posted at 84'
Foul by Medhi Benatia (Morocco).
Posted at 84'
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 82'
Attempt missed. Bruno Fernandes (Portugal) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by João Moutinho.
Posted at 81'
Attempt missed. Nabil Dirar (Morocco) right footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high following a corner.
Posted at 80'
Corner, Morocco. Conceded by Pepe.
Posted at 79'
Corner, Morocco. Conceded by William Carvalho.
Posted at 78'
Attempt missed. Medhi Benatia (Morocco) with an attempt from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Hakim Ziyech with a cross following a set piece situation.
Posted at 78'
Hakim Ziyech (Morocco) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Posted at 78'
Foul by João Moutinho (Portugal).
SubstitutionPosted at 75'
Substitution, Morocco. Mehdi Carcela-González replaces Younès Belhanda.
Posted at 73'
Ayoub El Kaabi (Morocco) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Posted at 73'
Foul by José Fonte (Portugal).
Posted at 72'
Foul by Nabil Dirar (Morocco).
Posted at 72'
Gonçalo Guedes (Portugal) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Posted at 71'
Attempt blocked. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Gonçalo Guedes.
SubstitutionPosted at 70'
Substitution, Portugal. Bruno Fernandes replaces João Mário.
SubstitutionPosted at 69'
Substitution, Morocco. Ayoub El Kaabi replaces Khalid Boutaïb.
Posted at 69'
Foul by Khalid Boutaïb (Morocco).
Posted at 69'
Cédric Soares (Portugal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 68'
Attempt missed. Hakim Ziyech (Morocco) left footed shot from outside the box is too high from a direct free kick.
Posted at 67'
Moubarak Boussoufa (Morocco) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 67'
Foul by Raphael Guerreiro (Portugal).
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Source: bbc.com