Cristiano Ronaldo proved his class once again on Wednesday scoring once and setting up the other as Portugal brushed aside Wales 2-0 to advance to the final of the 2016 European Championship.
The Real Madrid superstar came up against club mate, Gareth Bale, who had scored a goal more in the competition.
He was into his third straight game without finding the back of the net with his last coming in the 3-3 draw with Hungary in their last group game.
A cagey game in Lyon burst into life after the break when Portugal struck twice in four second- half minutes to book their place in Sunday’s final, where they will face either Germany or France.
Appearing in his third Euro semi-final, expectedly, it was the 31-year-old Ronaldo who drew first blood to put Fernando Santos’s side in front.
He broke the deadlock five minutes after the re-start when he leapt majestically to head Raphael Guerreiro’s pinpoint cross into the net following a short corner.
The strike was his third of the tournament and nine overall since making his tournament debut at Euro 2004.
It means he is now level with France’s Michel Platini, who scored all nine of his goals at Euro 1984.
He also became the first player to find the net in four different Euros and has played 20 games at the tournament – the most of any player in history.
The Real winger didn’t end there. He went a step further to assist former Manchester United teammate, Nani, for the second goal of the night.
He inadvertently set up Nani three minutes after his goal with a mishit shot which was deflected by the new Valencia man past Wales goalkeeper, Wayne Hennessey.
Wales, who by reaching the last four achieved their best finish at a major tournament, were largely restricted to long range strikes from Bale, and failed to score in a match for the first time at the tournament.
Portugal will hope to clinch the title this time after failing on home soil 12 years ago, losing 1-0 to Greece in the final.
