Cristiano Ronaldo defended after furious reaction to Portugal substitution

Portugal boss Roberto Martinez defended a frustrated Cristiano Ronaldo after he furiously kicked a water bottle after being substituted during the shock 2-0 defeat to Georgia.

The Al Nassr striker managed just over an hour before being hooked by Martinez, who was searching for an answer to goals from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze when he replaced Ronaldo with Goncalo Ramos.

A response was not forthcoming, however, with Ronaldo watching on from the sidelines as Portugal fell to what was statistically the biggest upset in the history of the European Championships against a Georgia side ranked 66 places below them in FIFA's global rankings.

Before taking his seat on the bench, Ronaldo was spotted kicking a water bottle, letting his frustrations boil over after a difficult outing.

Ronaldo had been booked earlier in the game for his exuberant protests towards the referee when he went to ground following a tussle with centre-back Luka Lochoshvili, who was clearly grabbing the Portugal striker's shirt but avoided conceding a penalty.

Martinez insisted after the game that Ronaldo should have been awarded a "clear" penalty as he questioned the consistency of the VAR, who later decided to hand a spot kick to Mikautadze for Georgia's second.

"At times, we were unlucky," Martinez told the media. "The VAR was inconsistent, if it's a penalty on Antonio Silva, it was even clearer for Ronaldo.

"Georgia had the game of their lives and we didn't match the intensity."

Ronaldo's chaotic evening did not end there as, when he left the pitch, he narrowly avoided a bizarre altercation with a supporter.

A fan jumped over the barricade towards Ronaldo as he walked down the tunnel and was pushed away by security before making contact with the 39-year-old, who was also targeted by a number of pitch invaders during Portugal's victory over Turkey earlier in the tournament.

Portugal have been paired with Slovenia in the last 16 of the competition, with their Monday night clash the last match to be decided before the quarter-final stage gets underway.

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