Portugal coast to Confederations Cup semi-finals while hosts Russia are knocked out

Portugal coasted to a 4-0 win over New Zealand in St Petersburg and secured their place in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup.

Portugal coast to Confederations Cup semi-finals while hosts Russia are knocked out

Portugal coasted to a 4-0 win over New Zealand in St Petersburg and secured their place in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup.

The win, however, came at a cost as Manchester City-bound midfielder Bernardo Silva substituted because of an ankle injury.

With hosts Russia losing against Mexico in Kazan, Portugal progressed as Group A winners, while the All Whites finished bottom following a third straight defeat.

Captain Cristiano Ronaldo put Portugal ahead from the penalty spot on 33 minutes.

Bernard Silva - set to leave Monaco in a £43million deal - swiftly doubled the lead with a close-range finish, but in doing so landed awkwardly on his ankle and was taken off at half-time.

Forward Andre Silva wrapped up the comfortable victory with a fierce angled finish on 80 minutes and Nani added a fourth in stoppage time.

New Zealand, the OFC Nations Cup winners, had made a positive opening with Leeds forward Chris Wood seeing his shot saved.

Ronaldo rattled the crossbar before Ipswich defender Tommy Smith bundled over Danilo Pereira following a corner and the Real Madrid forward scored the resulting penalty.

It was soon 2-0 when Bernardo Silva converted a low cross from Pereira Eliseu after 37 minutes.

However, the attacking midfielder turned his ankle as he landed ahead of a sliding challenge from Tom Doyle, which saw him replaced by Luis Pizzi after the break.

Just before half-time, Portugal forward Andre Silva lashed out at Michael Boxall after a tussle with the New Zealand defender, which left him with a torn shirt - but could easily have also resulted in a red card.

New Zealand almost pulled a goal back on the hour when Doyle's ball across the face of goal from the left found Wood at the far post, but Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio recovered to make a sliding block on the line.

Marinovic had produced a string of decent saves at the other end during the second half.

However, the All Whites keeper could do little when Silva, who cost AC Milan some £33million from Porto, darted into the right of the penalty area before crashing the ball into the top corner.

Nani drilled in a fourth goal for Portugal during stoppage time.

In the day's other game, tournament hosts Russia were eliminated from the Confederations Cup after losing 2-1 to Mexico in their final Group A game.

Russia broke the deadlock in the 25th minute through Alexander Samedov but Nestor Araujo headed Mexico level five minutes later.

Juan Carlos Osorio's side went 2-1 up seven minutes after the break thanks to Hirving Lozano's third international goal, before Russia had Yuri Zhirkov sent off for picking up a second booking in the 68th minute.

Mexico's victory sees them progress into the semi-finals alongside Portugal, who cruised to a 4-0 victory over New Zealand in the group's other fixture.

After a spell of early pressure, Russia took the lead when Samedov coolly slotted the ball beyond Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa from the right side of the box just moments after Fedor Smolov had hit the post.

Mexico were soon back on terms, though, with Araujo looping his close-range header over Igor Akinfeev in the 30th minute.

And Mexico went ahead shortly after the interval when Lozano beat Akinfeev to Hector Herrera's long up-field clearance before bravely heading into an empty net from the edge of the area.

Mexico thought they had extended their lead in the 60th minute but Hector Moreno's goal was ruled out for offside by the video assistant referee after a review.

Things went from bad to worse for Russia 22 minutes from the end when Zhirkov was given his marching orders, and there was no way back for the hosts.

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