Poland 1-1 Portugal: match report quarter final, Euro 2016

Match report: Poland 1-1 Portugal (aet). Portugal win 5-3 on penalties.

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Portugal sealed their place in the semi-finals as they beat Poland 5-3 on penalties. The two sides cancelled each other out after a lively first-half that promised much but petered out into a tight and tense affair. Lewandowski gave Poland a dream start as Grosicki, a constant menace from the left, sent in an inch-perfect cross for the Bayern striker to end his seven-game drought and slide the ball past Rui Patricio.

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The early strike set the stage for an exciting, end-to-end half full of attacking intent. Renato Sanches, who was given the nod to start in the Portuguese midfield, produced the moment of the half and topped off an impressive display with a left-footed effort that curled past Fabianski, albeit with a slight deflection.

Game goes into extra-time, then penalties

Despite both sides looking to stamp their authority on the tie, the game began to follow a familiar pattern marked out in the previous round, where both were taken into extra-time. Poland went all the way to penalties as they beat Switzerland, while Portugal almost stared at the same fate but for a last-gasp Quaresma winner. The evening took on an air of inevitability, despite both sides’ best efforts to avoid the shootout, and Cristiano Ronaldo in particular had a number of efforts he surely would have put away in days gone by.

Blaszczykowski missed the crucial penalty for the Poles and it was left to Quaresma to slam the ball into the roof of the net and send Fernando Santos’s men into the semi-finals without actually winning a game in 90 minutes at Euro 2016.

Poland 1-1 Portugal: Here's how it happened

Penalty 9 | Quaresma sends Portugal through!!

Penalty 8 | Rui Patricio saves Blaszczykowski's effort!!!

Penalty 7 | Nani steps up and calmly side-foots it home.

Penalty 6 | Glik buries it, same corner. 3-3!

Penalty 5 | J. Moutinho... bottom corner again.

Penalty 4 | Milik places it in the bottom corner. 

Penalty 3 | Renato Sanches. Top corner!

Penalty 2 | Lewandowski coolly places it in the corner.

Penalty 1 | Ronaldo strolls up and... sends Fabianski the wrong way. First blood Portugal.

Lewandowski and Ronaldo flip a coin and Portugal to go first.

Peeep! That's 120 minutes over and done with. Penalties.

119' | Last minute of extra-time but both sides shutting up the proverbial shop. Piszczek has a go from outside the box but it was never troubling Rui Patricio.

114' | Kapustka takes the ball near the by-line and floats the ball over Rui Patricio and across goal. No-one there.

111' | Corner for Portugal but Quaresma's delivery goes astray. Tense and tight as penalties start to rear their head.

109' | Hello!? A fan races on to the pitch towards Cristiano Ronaldo before being rugby-tackled to the ground. 

107' | Milik swings a corner in from the right but Portugal clear without further ado. Portugal fail to mount a counter.

Second half of extra-time under way.

105' | First half of extra-time draws to a close as this tournament's extra-time merchants career towards penalties. 

102' | Nani does a Freddie Mercury and breaks free but hits his shot straight at Fabianski.

99' | Chance for Poland. Milik picks up the ball outside the area and has a crack. Decent effort but always swerving wide.

97' | Poland make their second substitution: Jodlowiec replaces Maczýnski.

95' |  Another sub for Portugal: W. Carvalho jogs off, Danilo trots on.

92' | Cristiano Ronaldo sees another chance fall his way but the ball wriggles under his boot and squirms away. 

Extra-time | The whistle blows and so do the players, puffing out that tension through those cheeks. 

Full-time | Into extra-time we go. It was written, scribbled and engraved on the game the way that second half panned out. Ronaldo with probably the best chance for semi-final glory.

92' | W. Carvalho is booked for checking Krychowiak. The Portuguese midfielder will miss the semi-final if Portugal make it through.

89' | Chance! Pepe heads Quaresma's free-kick over. Three minutes added on.

88' | New arrival Kapustka booked for a foul on Nani. 

85' | Chance! J. Moutinho floats a ball over the top for Ronaldo but the Real striker swipes with his left peg and misses.

82' | Poland make a change: Kapustka on for Grosicki.

81' | Pepe intercepts and strides forward. His pass is very nearly steered into the Poland goal by Jedrzejczyk.

80' | Quaresma on for Joao Mario. Portugal going for the kill.

78' | Hold tight! Fonte gets on the end of a corner but hits it straight at Fabianski.

76' | Joao Mario fluffs his pass and CR7 laments. This second half has got extra-time written all over it.

74' | Substitution for Portugal: J. Moutinho on, Adrien Silva off.

72' | Ronaldo sports that I'm-going-to-cry-if-you-don't-send-in-a-decent-cross face. 

70' | Lewandowski checks for blood after a flailing Fonte arm catches him on the side of the head.

67' | Poland nearly thread their way through the Portugal defence. Milik gets on the end of Piszczek's cross from the left but can't get any power on it.

65' | Cedric with a long range effort that looked like it was arrowing into the top corner. Further away from the far post than it initially seemed.

63' | Krychowiak powers through towards the Portugal goal but runs into Pepe, who stops him in his tracks.

60' | Ronaldo swipes and misses the ball after, yes, another Nani combo. Good chance that.

57' | Pepe down writhing around on the ground, but this time it's a set of nasty studs on the centre-back's shin.

55' | Sting a ling! It's that Nani-Ronaldo combo again as the Madrid striker is put through but doesn't have the angle and sends the ball into the side netting.

54' | The sting has been bitten and spat out of the game in the last few minutes as Poland knock the ball around and Grosicki gets caught offside.

51' | Fabianski comes off his line to cut out a Nani-Ronaldo combo.

48' | Poland try their luck and Piszczek's cross reaches Lewandowski, whose bouncing header tamely reaches Rui Patricio.

45' | Portugal get the ball rolling.

Renato Sanches undoubtedly the player of the half and the 18-year-old is likely to draw all the usual 'old head on young shoulders' plaudits. Poland's defensive pairing of Pazdán and Glik also made a decent fist of keeping Platini-record-chasing Ronaldo relatively quiet.

Half-time | Splendid half that. Poland left Portuguese mouths agape with that early Lewandowski goal, but Fernando Santos's men came right back into it and Renato Sanches's (slightly deflected) strike was a worthy equaliser. Nicely poised.

44' | Poland get yet more joy down the left with Grosicki but that final on-a-plate, killer pass was missing.

41' | More Portugal pressure that includes a Ronaldo flick and ends with Nani on the turf. Jedrzejczyk goes into the book and will miss the semi-final, should Poland get there.

39' | Eliseu forces a corner but Nani fails to get on the end of it and flicks it out for a throw-in.

37' | Pole pressure down the other end as Grosicki's deflected cross is saved by Rui Patricio. Poland have reacted well after conceding.

35' | That goal will get the Bayern saliva glands moving. 

33' | Gooaaall!! Renato Sanches justifies his selection and with one swipe of his left boot sends the ball into the corner. Took a slight deflection off Krychowiak.

30' | Nani crosses to Ronaldo, who is bundled over by Pazdán. Portugal's number 7 looked none too pleased with that.

29' | Nani picks Piszczek's pocket and lays it off to Ronaldo, whose effort from range is comfortably saved by Fabianski.

26' | Poland looking the better side as the thirty minute mark approaches. Ronaldo and Nani peripheral. 

24' | Piszczek tries to dance round Nani on the right but the move breaks down. Portugal send another no-man's-land pass down the other end. 

21' | Poland stroke the ball around at the back (aka Barcelona). Milik forces a corner, which is headed away by Ronaldo. 

18' | Lewandowski looks in the mood and tests Rui Patricio. Pepe gallops over the half-way line to no avail and another Portugal attack breaks down.

16' | CR7 readies himself for a free-kick and... smacks it into the wall. At least he's consistent.

14' | The Poles break and launch another attack as Milik smashes the ball wide with his left peg.

12' | Poland stroke the ball about for a couple of minutes without a care in the world. Joao Mario sends in a corner from the right that is dealt with easily. 

10' | Fernando Santos does some hand-waving from the touch-line. Cristiano and Nani both have a pop but it drops gently and sweetly into Fabianski's arms.

7' | Portugal coming up against a well-organised white wall. Sanches looking to drive things through from the centre of the park...

4' | Who said this was going to be a cagey, defensive tussle? Portugal look to bounce back straight away but find no joy down the right flank.

2' | Goaaaaal!! Lewandowski breaks his seven-game barren spell and grabs his first of the tournament. Grosicki sends the ball in from the left and the Bayern man slides it into the corner.

Poland get us under way. Quarter-finals here we come!

Applause in memory of the 43 victims of attack at Istanbul’s main airport this week.

The teams are out in the Stade Velódrome in Marseille. The anthems are booming.

Poland - Portugal teams

The teams for this evening's proceedings:

Poland vs Portugal Match Preview

After a tense 1-1 draw in the last 16 against the Swiss, Poland eventually went through on penalties after scoring all five spot kicks. Portugal find themselves in the quarter-finals after overcoming Croatia, albeit with some difficulty. Quaresma netted the winner against the run of play in the 117th minute with only Portugal’s second shot at goal all game.

Poland

Adam Nawalka’s men come into the final eight full of optimism. Poland are competing in their first ever quarter-final at the European Championships, and whatever happens in Marseille, their campaign will be seen as a success. This also means they’ve nothing to lose. The Poles can also count on Robert Lewandowski, of course, who teammate Warzyniak says is “the best player in the world.” Aside from the Bayern Munich star, coach Nawalka has a fully fit squad to choose from.

Portugal

Portugal could face Poland without Guerreiro and André Gomes, who are both suffering from muscular problems. Stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani, thankfully for Fernando Santos, are ready and raring to go however. Ronaldo – who could equal Michel Platini’s Euro goalscoring record of nine goals tonight – didn’t celebrate his side's victory over Croatia out of respect to his Real Madrid teammate, Luka Modric. “I couldn’t celebrate on the pitch as my brother Luka was crying. I had to console him.”

The winner of this match will face either Wales or Belgium (Friday, 21:00) in the semifinals.

Live pre-match build up

J. Moutinho on, Adrien Silva off.

W. Carvalho