Abdelkarim Hassan scores Qatar's goal against Portugal, yesterday.
Doha: European heavyweights Portugal defeated nine-man Qatar 3-1 during a Group A clash of the UEFA Qualifiers for FIFA World Cup 2022 yesterday.
Debutant Otavio, André Silva and Bruno Fernandes were on target for Portugal while Abdelkarim Hassan scored Qatar’s only goal yesterday.
Qatar lost 0-4 to Serbia on Wednesday but made a bright start in yesterday's match.
The Asian champions nearly took the lead when Almoez Ali sent an powerful shot which saw the ball crashing against the post at the Nagyerdei Stadion in Debrecen, in front of huge number of Al Annabi supporters.
Abdulaziz Hatim and Akram Afif also teamed up in search of an opening goal, but Santos' men took the lead through Silva who headed in Joao Mario's cross from six yards in the 23th minute.
Otavio then scored his maiden goal when he guided Goncalo Guedes' pass from Qatar goalkeeper Mesal Barsham just 84 seconds later.
Qatar suffered a huge blow when Barsham was issued a red card for tripping Guedes outside the box minutes before the break.
However, the 2022 World Cup hosts fought back through Hassan who headed the ball into the back of the net off a cross from Afif in the 61st minute.
Felix Sanchez's side suffered another blow in the 88th minute when Al Annabi were reduced to nine men.
Fernandes converted from 12 yards after fellow substitute Diogo Jota was fouled by Tarek Salman inside the box. Boualem Khoukhi protested against the decision and that led his dismissal as Portugal finished off with a 3-1 score in their favour.
In their first ever meeting against the Portuguese, Sanchez decided to made five changes to his team after their loss to Serbia last time out, bringing in Barsham, Ahmed, Al Ahrak, Abdulaziz Hatim and star-player Afif into the side.
Goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb, Salman, Hassan Al Haydos and Ahmed Aaeldin were drop to the bench.
In contrast, Portugal made 11 changes to their previous line-up, while missing out on their world record goal scorer Cristiano Ronaldo after the Manchester United star was released from the squad on Wednesday.
In other European qualifiers which took place yesterday, Aleksandar Mitrovic's rich vein of form continued as he scored a first-half brace which helped Serbia to a 4-1 home win over Luxembourg that sent them top of Group A.
Serbia nosed ahead of Portugal on goal difference with both teams on 10 points from four games, four ahead of third-placed Luxembourg. Ireland and Azerbaijan have one point each after their 1-1 draw in Dublin.
