Portugal kept their chances of reaching the European Championship quarter-finals alive. They drew 1-1 against Italy in the second matchday of Group B. Diana Gomes equalized in the 89th minute. The final phase was particularly entertaining in Geneva.
Cristiana Girelli seemed to score the only goal of the evening in the seventieth minute. She waited during an attack for assistance up front when she decided to shoot herself. From the edge of the penalty area, she aimed for the far corner, and she found it. The ball disappeared into the top corner behind keeper Patrícia Morais.
Until the goal, there wasn’t too much to enjoy in Geneva, where big chances were absent. After Girelli’s goal, however, the match came to life, and Portugal went on the attack. Italy, wanting to defend the lead, dropped back.
Ten minutes later, Portugal seemed to equalize through Diana Silva, but the goal was disallowed for offside. Silva headed the ball towards the goal and then shot it in the second instance. At the moment she touched the ball with her head, she was just in an offside position. It was Portugal’s first attempt on goal.
After the disallowed goal, Portugal did not mourn for long, and in the entertaining final phase, the team continued to put pressure on. That was rewarded a minute before the end of official time with the equalizer. Gomes didn’t seem to hit the ball well, and her effort looped over Laura Giuliani into the goal.
Red Card for Borges
Portugal finished the match with ten players after a red card for Ana Borges. She received her second yellow card for pushing her opponent, who came into hard contact with the boarding.
Portugal had suffered a hopeless defeat in the opening match against Spain: 0-5. Italy had won the first match 1-0 against Belgium. Due to that narrow defeat, Belgium has already been eliminated from the European Championship after two matchdays. The Belgian team was previously outclassed 6-2 by Spain earlier in the day.