Without VAR or goalline technology in use, Juve forward was denied a 93rd minute winner against Serbia
\nNews Agency
\nBELGRADE
\nPortugal coach Fernando Santos said \u201cit isn\u2019t possible\u201d that what he saw as a clear goal scored by Cristiano Ronaldo in Saturday\u2019s World Cup qualifier against Serbia could be ruled out.
\nWith the scores level at 2-2 in Belgrade, Ronaldo thought he had won the game in the 93rd minute.
\nHowever, without VAR or goalline technology in use, officials decided that Serbia defender Stefan Mitrovic had cleared even though images appeared to show the ball had crossed the line.
\nA fuming Ronaldo was booked for his protests and at the final whistle stormed from the pitch, throwing his captain\u2019s armband to the ground.
\n\u201cWe scored a goal that was not given when the ball went in,\u201d Santos told Portuguese broadcaster RTP.
\n\u201cIn a match of this level, that isn\u2019t possible.\u201d
\nRonaldo later posted on his Instagram page: \u201cI always give and will give everything for my country, that will never change.
\n\u201cBut there are difficult times to deal with, especially when we feel that an entire nation is being harmed.\u201d
\nThe match had started brightly for the Portuguese with two first-half headers from Diogo Jota that gave the away side a commanding lead at the break.
\nHowever Aleksandar Mitrovic pulled one back for the hosts seconds after the restart and Filip Kostic levelled the scores on the hour mark when he collected Nemanja Radonjic\u2019s through ball and slotted home a smart finish.
\nNikola Milenkovic was sent off a minute into added time before the key moment of the match denied Ronaldo a last-gasp winner.
\nPortugal midfielder Danilo Pereira was equally dumbfounded at the decision to not award the goal.
\n\u201cWe tried to get a third goal and we managed to do it but the referee didn\u2019t allow it although in my opinion it was clearly a goal,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cIn any case, we can\u2019t afford to be two goals ahead and then get pegged back.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Without VAR or goalline technology in use, Juve forward was denied a 93rd minute winner against Serbia News Agency BELGRADE Portugal coach Fernando Santos said \u201cit isn\u2019t possible\u201d that what he saw as a clear goal scored by Cristiano Ronaldo in Saturday\u2019s World Cup qualifier against Serbia could be ruled out. With the scores level […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-182903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n