The Juventus star left the pitch before the final whistle had gone after his last-ditch effort was deemed not to have crossed the line. Defender Stefan Mitrovic raced back to goal, sliding in to attempt to clear the ball – but it appeared to have crossed the line by a matter of centimetres. Replays appeared to show that the ball had crossed the line - but with no video technology being used at the World Cup qualifiers, Ronaldo was denied a winner. The incident denied Portugal the chance to go clear at the top of the group after they opened their qualifying campaign with a 1-0 win over Azerbaijan. They remain level on points with Serbia, with Ronaldo having now failed to score in his last four international games.

Source: Standard Digital March 28, 2021 06:56 UTC