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Portuguese Abroad goals round-up: Fábio Silva earns PSV glory; Diogo Jota wins thriller for Liverpool; Andre Gomes bags brace in France; Bruno Fernandes nets United winner; Jota puts Celtic on brink of treble; Ronaldo back on-track

It was a fantastic weekend for Portuguese players scoring decisive goals in various countries throughout Europe, as the season draws towards a conclusion across the continent. Perhaps most dramatically, Fábio Silva scored the winning penalty in PSV’s shootout win over Ajax in the Dutch cup final, earning his first winners’ medal outside Portugal.

Diogo Jota also settled Liverpool’s victory over Tottenham with a desperately late strike, while Bruno Fernandes and Jota continued the match-winning theme with goals for Manchester United and Celtic. Elsewhere, André Gomes bagged a superb brace for Lille in France and Cristiano Ronaldo returned to goalscoring form in Saudi Arabia.

Silva the hero for PSV

PSV Eindhoven beat Ajax on penalties to win the KNVB Cup after a 1-1 draw in Rotterdam on Sunday. The trophy – PSV’s third KNVB Cup in a row – was settled by a nervous shootout, won by Portuguese striker Fábio Silva who scored to give Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side a 3-2 win on spot-kicks.

Both sides came into the game with Portuguese youngsters on the substitutes bench, with Silva taking his place among PSV’s reserves and Francisco Conceição among Ajax’s options. Ajax took the lead shortly before half time through Jarrad Branthwaite’s own goal, but PSV levelled midway through the second half through Belgian Thorgen Hazard.

The game ultimately headed to penalties after extra time, and the shootout began with Tadic and Hazard scoring the openers. However, the next four penalties were missed, leading to increased tension with each subsequent kick. Marcel Godts then scored for Ajax and Anwar el Ghazi responded for PSV, but Mexican midfielder Edson Alvarez missed for the Amsterdam outfit to provide Silva with his opportunity for glory.

Silva stepped up to take PSV’s 5th kick, showing exemplary composure to whip his effort inside the left post beyond the reach of Geronimo Rulli. The 20-year-old embarked on passionate celebratory run, while Conceição – a 75th-minute introduction – joined his Ajax teammates in lamenting consecutive final defeats to the same opponents.

Related article: “A pleasure to work with him” - matchwinner Bruno Fernandes playing through the pain barrier for Ten Hag at Man United

Jota wins 7-goal thriller in Premier League

Also on Sunday afternoon, the Premier League was treated to a dramatic meeting between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield. A remarkable story of the match began with Liverpool racing into a 3-0 lead inside 15 minutes, continuing Spurs’ trend of conceding early goals, but what looked a routine win later turned into a frantic conclusion.

Harry Kane pulled a goal back before the break and Son Heung-Min made it 3-2 on 77 minutes to ensure late nerves for the home fans. Spurs substitute Richarlison justified the unease at Anfield by glancing a late equaliser three minutes into injury time to complete the most unexpected of comebacks.

However, as the home crowd attempted to process their side throwing away two points, Spurs substitute Lucas Moura inexplicably cushioned the ball into the path of Liverpool’s Diogo Jota, leaving the Portugal forward to clinically fire the ball into the bottom corner for a sensational winner. Liverpool moved above Spurs into 5th place with the victory, maintaining their outside chances of a top four finish.

“I remember Robbo telling me to go forward because we normally play that long ball – to go on and believe, and you could feel that was already a good sign,” Jota said of his goal. “We did that, we won the second ball, we played back, we played again in behind and I could intercept a pass and score the winner. It was amazing.

“It doesn’t require too much thinking. I think the moment there that I believed I could intercept was key because I started running in behind and I saw their full-back could pass the ball back. That was the key moment for me and then it was just, ‘Make sure you control it right and you hit the target,’ and hopefully it’s in – and it was!”

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp summed the dramatic ending, telling the club’s media: “3-3, didn’t feel great but that’s what we got. But then Diogo Jota had a different idea and finished it off for us. That’s the best part of the whole afternoon obviously.”

Related article: “A great emotion” – Jota the matchwinner as Celtic overcome Rangers

André Gomes inspires Lille win

Paulo Fonseca’s Lille are in the thick of the battle for European places in France, after a convincing 3-0 victory over Ajaccio on Saturday. Portuguese midfielder André Gomes was the star of the show for Les Dogues with two brilliantly-taken goals in the first half to set his team on the way to victory at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Gomes opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with a beautifully-placed shot on his right foot which flew into the top corner from outside the area. The former Benfica man doubled his and Lille’s tally ten minutes late, finishing off a team move with a composed finish with his left foot. Remy Cabella made it 3-0 before the break and Fonseca’s men cruised to an easy three points and remain in 5th place.

“I think we had a good first half, with a lot of good things,” Fonseca reflected. “In the second half, we managed. The three points were very important. The goals are very nice. We have done a lot of good things

“Yes, I left José Fonte on the bench due to the accumulated yellow cards. We didn't want to take any risks. We now have three very tough games ahead. Winning today was therefore important to have the confidence before the next meeting. This trip to Reims will be very difficult, it's a great team.”

The rest: Ronaldo back on track

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr have been goal shy in Saudi Arabia recent weeks, going three matches without registering a team goal. The Portugal captain ended his team’s drought after just five minutes of Friday’s home clash with Al Raed, heading in from close range to put his side on their way to a 4-0 victory. Elsewhere in the Saudi Pro League, midfielder Fábio Martins scored a classy goal from distance as Al Khaleej beat Al Feiha 3-0 away from home.

In the Spanish Segunda Division, experienced forward Bebé scored for Real Zaragoza in a 1-1 draw with Las Palmas, making it four goals from twelve appearances for his new club. In Italy’s second tier, Serie B, there was a goal for ex Sporting, Nacional and Rio Ave forward Pedro Mendes to help Ascoli overcome Pisa 2-1 and keep their promotion play-off hopes alive.

The Poland-based Portuguese contingent were in fine form this weekend, led by ex-Seleção international Josue, who scored his 11th league goal of the season from the penalty spot in Legia Warsaw’s 2-0 win over Wisla Plock. Leonardo Rocha scored the only goal to hand Radomiak Radom a 1-0 victory away at Slask Wroclaw, while Nené was on the scoresheet as Jagiellonia Bialystok beat Warta Poznan 3-1 at home.

In Serbia, former Nacional striker Ricardo Gomes is the joint-top goalscorer in the Super Liga, having opened the scoring in Partizan Belgrade’s 3-1 away at TSC. Finally, there was a brace for ex-Gil Vicente and Paços Ferreira forward João Pedro in Greece, where his Panaitolikos side were held 2-2 by Levadiakos.

By Sean Gillen

@SeanGillen9