Lisbon: Portugal produced a rusty display in their opening World Cup qualifier at home to Azerbaijan on Wednesday but still made a winning start with a 1-0 victory in Turin.Maksim Medvedev fumbled the ball into his own net after a mix-up with goalkeeper ShahrudinÂ
Portugal dominated possession but could not break down Azerbaijan again despite having 29 attempts on goal, 14 of which hit the target. All-time scorer Cristiano Ronaldo had eight attempts on goal but had a frustrating evening at his home stadium for the second time in four games after Juventusâ shock 1-0 defeat by Serie A strugglers Benevento on Sunday.
Ronaldo went closest with a late free kick which was tipped away by keeper Mahammadaliyev, who was kept busy all evening and repelled second-half efforts from substitutes Bruno Fernandes and Joao Felix.
Portugal visit Serbia on Saturday in their next Group A game while Azerbaijan face World Cup 2022 hosts Qatar in a friendly before hosting Serbia in their second qualifier.
Serbia got their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign off to a positive start as substitute Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a second-half brace to give them a comeback 3-2 home win over Ireland in their opening Group A clash on Wednesday.