Ronaldo’s Lux in as he closes on 700 goals

EURO 2020

CRISTIANO RONALDO fired his 94th international goal as Portugal edged closer to next year’s finals.

The European champions eased to a 3-0 victory over Luxembourg in Lisbon as the skipper moved on to 699 senior career goals.

Portugal, however, remain five points behind Group B leaders Ukraine who were 2-0 winners over Lithuania.

Ronaldo and Co, who visit Ukraine on Monday, missed a string of chances to win by a bigger margin.

Ronaldo’s goal, the second on the night, demonstrated his class when a defensive blunder allowed the Juventus forward to race clear and beat keeper Anthony Moris with a delightful lob from the edge of the area.

Moris produced a barrage of fine saves to keep the score respectable after Bernardo Silva pounced on a loose ball to score in the 16th minute.

Poor finishing coupled with Moris’ heroics kept Portugal at bay before Ronaldo moved within six goals of the century and Goncalo Guedes sealed the win with a late effort.

Ukraine, who will qualify for the finals if they avoid defeat on Monday, overpowered Lithuania thanks to a superb brace from Ruslan Malinovskiy.

The midfielder broke the deadlock with a crisp left-foot shot after a one-two with Junior Moraes and made it 2-0 with a brilliant free-kick around the wall.

Olivier Giroud scored the only goal from the spot as world champions France claimed a 1-0 win in Iceland.

The Chelsea striker stepped up in the 66th minute of the clash in Reykjavik after Antoine Griezmann had been kicked by Ari Skulason.

France stay second in Group H behind Turkey who beat Albania 1-0 thanks to a last-gap Cenk Tosun goal.

The rivals, both on 18 points, meet at the Stade de France on Monday but France are behind by virtue of their 2-0 loss in Konya in June.

Coach Didier Deschamps said: “We had several chances to add to our goal and it would have been nice because they are dangerous on set pieces. But it’s a good victory ahead of Monday’s clash.”

CZECH REPUBLIC .... 2 ENGLAND .................. 1 MONTENEGRO ......... 0 BULGARIA ................ 0