Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic’s sensational brace was not enough to end Portugals’ winning streak against Croatia. It was their sixth-time face-off and Portugal yet again remains unbeaten after securing a 3-2 win at Poljud Stadium.
Kovacic isn’t so famous for scoring. Rather he is known as a holding midfielder with fair depths of defending and creating an attacking move. It was after five years that Kovacic scored. Before that, he had only one goal for his national team.
Kovacic followed to the penalty box and gave a deserving lead to his country in the 29th minute after he managed to score from his second attempt of the rebound. Along with the 2018 Ballon D’or winner, Luka Modric, Kovacic bossed the midfield even though they went a man down after Marko Rog was shown a red card after fouling Cristiano Ronaldo.
Despite their brilliance, Portugal managed to take a lead with a lucky goal and numeric strength. Even with 10 men, Croatia’s pressing was led by Mateo Kovacic who again struck the net with a stunning shot just outside of the box.
🇭🇷 Mateo Kovačić scores a sensational goal for Croatia, his second of the game!
He’s tripled his tally of international goals in this game alone. pic.twitter.com/7jNwL4m3Mg
— LDN (@LDNFootbalI) November 17, 2020
The Chelsea midfielder gave a 10/10 performance and surely Lampard will be smiling seeing his player’s performance before the Newcastle United match. His impressive performance against Sheffield United where he made an assist as well, was praised by the coach. Kovacic although didn’t get enough minutes under Lampard but his recent performances are sure to get him more game time for the club.
