Watch: Cristiano Ronaldo’s clinical penalty and thunderous free kick against Liechtenstein

Joao Cancelo had put Portugal into an eighth-minute lead with a long-range half-volley that took a slight deflection through a crowd of players, but Portugal was frustrated by solid defending from the visitors.

Seventy seconds into the second half, however, Bernardo Silva picked up a loose ball after Cancelo’s progress to goal was halted and rifled home for a 2-0 lead.

Ronaldo, who turned 38 last month, tucked in a penalty after Cancelo had been brought down before his rasping free kick in the 63rd minute extended his record for the most goals in international football to 120.

“It was very, very positive,” Portugal manager Roberto Martinez told Portuguese television.

“It was an obvious next step from the attitude and the work we did in training. It is always very difficult to play this type of game, they are ‘trap games’, but the way we played with the ball and how we smothered the danger of Liechtenstein was very important.”

Martinez, the former Belgium manager, took over from Fernando Santos after Portugal lost in last year’s World Cup quarter-final to Morocco in Qatar.