BUDAPEST: Cristiano Ronaldo became the top scorer in men’s European Championship history as Portugal beat Hungary in a match under the Euro Cup 2020 in Budapest on Tuesday.
Ronaldo converted an 87th-minute penalty for his 10th goal in the competition, overtaking France’s Michel Platini on nine goals.
His 11th came only a few minutes later when he took the ball around goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi for Portugal’s third.
Hungary had looked on course for an unlikely draw against the defending champion until it conceded three times later on.
The deadlock was broken in the 84th minute when Raphael Guerreiro’s shot with the outside of the foot took a massive deflection off defender Willi Orban to break Hungary’s brave resistance.
World Cup holder France beat former champion Germany 1-0 in the other Group F game on Tuesday.
The result looked comprehensive, but Portugal had to work hard to defeat their opponents in front of the biggest attendance of the tournament so far.
The 67,000-capacity Puskas Arena in Budapest is the only venue at Euro 2020 that will have full crowds and the fans helped create a fantastic, much-missed passionate atmosphere.
But the home supporters were nearly silenced in the fourth minute when Liverpool forward Diogo Jota had a chance, but saw his shot pushed away by Gulacsi when a pass to a wide-open Ronaldo may have been the better option.
Ronaldo then had the final say in injury time as he showed great skill to round Gulacasi for his second and Portugal’s third.
(With inputs from BBC)
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