Targino leaves it late for Portugal

Portugal came from behind in Podgorica to seal their third win in Group 3 and stay within touching distance of leaders England in qualifying for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Targino winner
Goals from Pele and Targino late on earned the visiting side the points in a game Montenegro, who had lost 4-0 to Portugal last month, controlled for long spells. In a lively first half, João Moreira saw a shot bounce off the post for Portugal on 15 minutes while at the other end Darko Bošković twice tested Ricardo Batista from long range. Montenegro eventually took the lead on 35 minutes when Moreira's misfortune continued when he turned Blažo Igumanović's corner into his own goal. Montenegro controlled the match until the 77th minute, when Pele's shot from the edge of the area found its way through a crowd of players to draw the visiting side level. The home side's misery was compounded four minutes later when substitute Targino scored with a long-range drive to secure the points.

'Mistake'
Montenegro had put the ball out of play prior to the first goal so a Portuguese player could receive treatment and coach Rui Caçador was quick to apologise for not returning possession to the home side at the restart. "I want to say sorry to the Montenegrin players and fans for the first goal," he said. "We made a mistake not to give them the ball back. We were lucky in the first half, Montenegro could have scored once or twice more, but in the second half our substitutes changed the course of the game."

England date
Montenegro coach Dušan Vlaisavljevic added: "We were controlling the match, but after the first goal we became much too nervous." Portugal trail England by three points but will have the chance to close that gap in their next match against the leaders on 20 November.