Showing them who's boss - Spain and Portugal face no issues against the Swiss and the Czech

Portugal’s Bernardo Silva assisted two first-half goals to help Portugal record a fourth consecutive at Estádio José Alvalade with a 2-0 win over the Czech Republic.

Portugal hoped to gain an advantage at the top of Group A2 to cap Fernando Santos’ 100th match in charge, but after going unbeaten in their first two Nations League matches, the Czech Republic were in town to spoil the party. Nároďák almost got off to the perfect start when Michal Sadílek’s volley sailed just over the bar before Jan Kuchta nearly netted his third consecutive senior international goal by getting in behind the Portugal defence and firing into the side netting.

With just one loss in 14 Nations League matches, Portugal were always going to respond to the early warning signs. Eventually, they took the lead when Silva played in João Cancelo and the right-back fired an unstoppable strike past Jindřich Staněk from a tight angle. With momentum behind them, the Seleção pushed on and added a second before halftime when Silva fed a well-weighted through ball to Gonçalo Guedes, who perhaps scuffed his shot fortuitously past Staněk.

The Czech Republic hoped to recapture the same scoring form that saw them put two past both Spain and Switzerland in their opening Nations League matches, and substitute Václav Jurečka almost pulled a goal back to cap a blistering counter-attack, only to slash his shot wide at the vital moment.

Ultimately, inaugural Nations League winners Portugal continued to control possession to see out the game and move three points clear at the top of Group A2. Meanwhile, Jaroslav Šilhavý’s Czech Republic were made to rue their early missed chances that could have changed the course of the match. Nevertheless, Nároďák will take confidence from being just one point behind second-placed Spain after stepping up from League B in the 2022/23 Nations League.

Speaking of Spain, they extended their unbeaten streak to seven matches with a 1-0 win over Switzerland, to also go five head-to-heads unbeaten after losing in a 2010 FIFA World Cup match a dozen years ago. Pablo Sarabia proved the difference, capitalising ruthlessly on some classic Spanish possession play before halftime.

The Spanish quickly got into their groove and dominated through high-tempo play. Perhaps the only surprise was that it took the former world champions exactly 12 minutes to break the deadlock, doing so when Marcos Llorente set up Sarabia with a wonderful pass from the right flank. The forward took full advantage of the assist, and channeled the ball behind Yann Sommer with a deft first-time touch to open the scoring.

Though often a talisman for the Swiss in desperate times, striker Breel Embolo then squandered a great opportunity to equalise proceedings, by crashing a header into the side netting from less than six yards. La Roja’s assertiveness and dominant possession play ensured that the Swiss would get no closer to scoring before halftime, leaving Switzerland coach Murat Yakin with some tough decisions to make at the interval - especially with Barcelona's youngster Gavi causing trouble.

Having ended the first half with no shots on target, the home side – much inspired by veteran Xherdan Shaqiri – restarted the match looking hungrier than before. They began pressing higher up the pitch to get the ball moving faster, and eventually succeeded in catching the Spaniards by surprise in midfield more than once. The Spanish backline almost handed the Swiss a last-ditch equaliser on a platter after a brace of defensive lapses, but once more benefited from the hosts’ inefficiency in the final third to steal all three points.

Luis Enrique’s men withstood most of what was thrown at them with all due calm, to secure their first win of the Nations League season and a first clean sheet on hostile turf in this competition after eight failures. Meanwhile, Switzerland suffered a third successive loss, and are still yet to win a match in 2022.

UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE

LEAGUE A

Thursday

Portugal - Czech R. 2-0 (2-0)

/Cancelo 33, Guedes 38/

Switzerland - Spain 0-1 (0-1)

/Sarabia 13/

Friday

21.45: (5.10) Austria (3.60) France (1.80)

21.45: (2.00) Denmark (3.50) Croatia (4.10)

Saturday

21.45: (9.00) Hungary (4.90) Germany (1.40)

21.45: (1.90) England (3.50) Italy (4.70)

***odds are subject to change

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