Portugal blew a two-goal lead in opposition to Serbia and in the end needed to accept some extent as either side drew 2-2 on the Stadion Rajko Mitic in Belgrade on Saturday evening.
Following a slender 1-0 win over Azerbaijan on Wednesday evening, Fernando Santos’ facet would have undoubtedly hoped to placed on knowledgeable efficiency and wrap up all three factors in opposition to their Serbian hosts.
Sadly, that wasn’t to be as various Portugal’s most embellished stars struggled to carry out on the evening.
Serbia v Portugal: Participant Rankings, Match Stats, Participant Stats
This was speculated to be Cristiano Ronaldo’s evening. After failing to place the ball at the back of the online in opposition to a defensive and cussed Azerbaijan facet, the Juventus ahead was going to return to kind and put an bold Serbia facet of their place. Sadly that didn’t precisely go to plan.
Whether or not it was probabilities within the field that ballooned over the bar, free-kicks that failed to go in direction of the goal or the participant’s lack of ability to remain onside, Ronaldo by no means fairly seemed like his previous self as his Portugal teammates labored round him to take a two-goal lead after which do their finest to make sure a hard-fought level.
The previous Manchester United star could have thought he’d gained it for his facet late on, when he appeared to fireside the ball previous the goalkeeper and watched it bounce over the road, earlier than a close-by defender cleared it out of the purpose. Regardless of his protests, the linesman and referee deemed it not a purpose and Ronaldo bought a yellow card for his response.
An unfair however maybe becoming finish to a deeply irritating evening for the ahead.
✔️ Aleksander Mitrovic: 7.2
Within the house of every week Aleksander Mitrovic has scored extra targets for the Serbia nationwide staff than he’s managed in the whole Premier League season for Fulham.
Off the again of choosing up a formidable brace in Serbia’s 3-2 victory over Eire, the towering striker as soon as once more put his opponents to the sword shortly after the break when he leaped above his marker and linked with an impressive Nemanja Radonjic cross to fireside in a head from shut vary.
It was precisely what Serbia wanted to kick begin a second-half comeback and as soon as once more the Premier League confirmed simply how very important he’s to this Serbian facet.
On an evening that was undoubtedly set for Ronaldo to strut his stuff, Diogo Jota surprisingly stepped on to the pitch and stole the entire limelight from his compatriot.
The Liverpool ahead struck after simply 11 minutes, when Manchester Metropolis playmaker Bernardo Silva performed a beautiful lofted cross into the field, permitting Jota to beat his marker within the air and plant a header into the underside left nook.
Jota mixed with one other Premier League rival simply 25 minutes later, when he bought on the tip of a cross from Arsenal full-back Cedric Soares to attain one more header that bounced in off the left submit.
Serbia v Portugal: Participant Rankings, Match Stats, Participant Stats