Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo took his international goals tally to 93 when he scored four times to give the European champions a 5-1 win away to Lithuania in their Euro 2020 qualifier on Tuesday. Playing in his 161st international, the 34-year-old notched his eighth hat-trick for his country and the 54th of his career to help Portugal through what had threatened to turn into a frustrating evening.
The midfielder William Carvalho completed the rout in stoppage time as Portugal stayed second in Group B with eight points, five behind the leaders Ukraine with one game in hand.
Serbia are a further point behind in third after a 3-1 win in Luxembourg. Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice to keep Serbia’s hopes of qualification alive. The Fulham striker headed the visitors in front after 36 minutes and Nemanja Radonjic curled in the second 10 minutes after the restart.
Substitute David Turpel pulled one back and Serbia were on the ropes until Sergej Milinkovic-Savic produced a delightful reverse pass for Mitrovic to fire in the third 12 minutes from the end.
France forward Kingsley Coman grabbed his third goal in two matches as he inspired the hosts to a 3-0 win against Andorra in Group H in Paris. Coman, who scored two in Saturday’s 4-1 win over Albania, put France ahead in the first half and hit the woodwork in the second. Clément Lenglet found the net after the break and Wissam Ben Yedder scored in stoppage time.
The world champions stay second in the section with 15 points from six games, level with the leaders Turkey, who won 4-0 away to Moldova, helped by a Cenk Tosun double. Third-placed Iceland slipped three points behind the top two after being sunk by late goals for Albania from Odise Roshi and Sokol Cikalleshi in a 4-2 away defeat.
France, who have the best goal-difference but are second by virtue of having lost in Istanbul in June, face a potential group decider against Turkey at the Stade de France next month. The top two teams qualify for next year’s finals.
In the other game in England’s group the Czech Republic bounced back from Saturday’s surprise defeat to Kosovo with a 3-0 victory over Montenegro in Podgorica. Goals early in the second half from the Slavia Prague duo Lukas Masopust and Tomas Soucek and a late penalty from Vladimir Darida took the Czechs back above Kosovo into second place behind England in Group A.
