Ronaldo Drives Portugal To 4-0 Rout Of Cyprus(sportz touch)

Nicosia, Sept 3: Cristiano Ronaldoscored two goals and set up another as Portugal thrashed a 10-man Cyprus side4-0 away to stay top of Euro 2012 qualifying Group H on goal difference. Portugal's first spell of pressure started on 13minutes when the lively Joao Moutinho put Joao Pereira through with a fine passbut the right back's shot was blocked by keeper Antonis Georgallidis. Just as Portugal's menace was starting to wane,Cyprus midfielder Sinisa Dobrasinovic stretched out his arm inside the box todeflect a Moutinho shot, received a second booking and allowed Ronaldo to slotin coolly from the resulting penalty on 35 minutes. Portugal took advantage of the added space inmidfield, with both Moutinho and striker Helder Postiga coming close todoubling their lead with fierce, long-distance efforts just before the break. "We played well in the first half, especiallyuntil we scored. The score could have been bigger in the first 45minutes," Portuguese coach Paulo Bento said. The Cypriots returned with an even more defensiveattitude and Portugal's passing game stalled. They threatened only with afierce shot by Ronaldo on 51 minutes, which the keeper blocked, and a diagonaldrive from Fabio Coentrao that hit the post six minutes later. "After we were reduced to 10 men it was veryhard for us, we had to chase Portugal, ran out of stamina and that's why wecollapsed at the end," Cyprus coach Nikos Nioplias said. The Portuguese left it late to secure the win,with captain Ronaldo sidestepping a defender near the box to create space andfire in his second goal in the 82nd minute. Two minutes later the forward usedhis speed on the left wing and set up substitute Almeida for a simple tap-in. Winger Danny came on to complete the rout bycutting in from the left and driving in the fourth goal in injury time. "The goals at the end brought justice. Therewere times when we did not play well in the second half, but the most importantthing was to improve our goal difference," Bento said. "We go intothe last two qualifying matches in a strong position." Portugal are level on 13 points with Norway, whobeat Iceland 1-0 at home. The Portuguese play Iceland at home and Denmark awayin October.