Portugal 0-1 Bulgaria: Cristiano Ronaldo misses penalty as hosts suffer surprise defeat in Leiria

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Bulgaria stunned Portugal in an international friendly clash on Friday night
Marcelinho's goal was enough to give the visitors a narrow win
Cristiano Ronaldo saw a second-half penalty saved during the defeat
Away goalkeeper Vladislav Stoyanov was in sensational form

Published: 17:37 EST, 25 March 2016 | Updated: 10:01 EST, 26 March 2016

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Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty as Portugal suffered a demoralising friendly defeat to Bulgaria in Leiria on Friday.

Ronaldo spurned the chance to level from the spot in the second half - his fourth miss from 12 yards for club and country this season - as the Portuguese were beaten by Marcelinho's first-half strike.

The visitors, who failed to qualify for Euro 2016, were grateful to goalkeeper Vladislav Stoyanov for their success.

Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty as Portugal were beaten 1-0 at home by Bulgaria in a friendly

Bulgarian goalkeeper Vladislav Stoyanov was in sensational form, keeping out Ronaldo on several occasions

Marcelinho celebrates after putting Bulgaria in front in the 19th minute of the clash

MATCH FACTS

Portugal: Lopes; Vieirinha, Alves, Pepe, Eliseu (Eder 81); William Carvalho (Renato Sanches 74), Mario (Pereira 74), Adrien (Danny 65); Nani (Guerreiro 82), Ronaldo, Rafa (Quaresma 66)

Subs not used: Soares, Fonte, B Silva, Gomes, Rui Patricio, Eduardo

Booked: Quaresma

Bulgaria: Stoyanov; S Popov (Bozhikov 88), A Aleksandrov, Bodurov, Milanov; Rangelov, Dyakov, Chochev, M Aleksandrov (Slavchev 65, Terziev 90); I Popov (Delev 90); Marcelinho (Tonev 83)

Subs not used: Mitrev, Makendzhiev, Malinov, Ivanov, Nedyalkov, Karabelyov, Tasev

Booked: Popov, Bodurov, Marcelinho, Stoyanov

Goals: Marcelinho 19

Referee: Carlos Clos Gómez

Stoyanov made three good early saves to repel Portuguese attacks - twice from Cristiano Ronaldo and once from Nani - and the goalkeeper's efforts were not in vain.

Marcelinho gave Bulgaria the lead in the 19th minute. The striker wriggled free of the attentions of Pepe and squeezed the ball home past Lopes in the home goal.

Stoyanov made a further stop from Ronaldo to keep his team in front at half-time and continued his heroics after the break.

In the 66th minute, Portugal were awarded a spot-kick by referee Carlos Clos Gomez, who adjudged Nikolay Bodurov to have handled Pepe's cross, and home captain Ronaldo stepped up from 12 yards.

However, the Real Madrid man could not beat Stoyanov once again, as the keeper saved low to his left and Ronaldo miscued the rebound.

And the Bulgarian again came to his country's rescue with three minutes remaining, saving a close-range header from the Portugal skipper, before Eder wasted a golden opportunity in additional time.