Pepe manages to get his head on the ball following Bernardo Silva’s corner, but the chance is well off-target and sails wide! Before that, the latter had an opportunity to score only for his shot to go across goal and get deflected off Milinkovic-Savic and out of play.
90' +3
Guedes attacks with purpose, but Milenkovic cuts out his pass before losing it once more! Portugal regain possession as Guerreiro plays in Andre Silva but the latter’s cross is cut out by Milenkovic for another corner.
88'
Guerreiro’s free-kick bounces off the wall, but Portugal regain possession. However, Mladenovic intercepts another long pass from deep and the Selecao start from the drawing board as the final few minutes are upon us.
87'
S. Milinković-Savić enters the game and replaces A. Ljajić.
Krstajic rounds off his changes by bringing Milinkovic-Savic on in place of Ljajic.
86'
D. Tadić gets yellow.
Tadic also gets his name in Marciniak’s book for delaying Bernardo Silva and his side from taking a quick set-piece after Milenkovic fouled the latter.
85'
Guedes’ first contribution is to end another offensive wave by the Selecao by fouling Zivkovic close to the Serbian penalty area.
84'
Gonçalo Guedes enters the game and replaces Rafa.
Guedes is brought on for Rafa as Santos makes one last change in an attempt to nick all three points in this tight contest.
83'
Rafa quickly switches play out on the wing to Pizzi, but the latter’s shot is deflected off Mladenovic and out of play.
81'
Pepe and Spajic are squaring up to each other after they both tangle with each other and hit the deck, but the squabble is quickly diffused.
Minute
Description
79'
U. Spajić gets yellow.
Spajic fouls Andre Silva, doubling the Serbians’ card count within two minutes. Guerreiro curls the free-kick towards goal, but Dmitrovic catches his effort with ease.
77'
F. Mladenović gets yellow.
Mladenovic becomes the first Serbian player to be booked following a rash sliding challenge on Bernardo Silva.
75'
Milenkovic and Tadic foul Andre Silva and Carvalho in quick succession, shaping up the conclusion of this contest into a fiery one.
69'
A. Živković enters the game and replaces D. Lazović.
Lazovic makes way for Zivkovic as Krstajic makes his second substitution of this game.
68'
Danilo tries another curler from about 20 yards out after Cancelo manages to play him in, but the midfielder is unable to replicate his first-half strike and the ball harmlessly sails wide of Dmitrovic’s goal.
67'
Tadic catches the Selecao backline cold and releases Radonjic with a brilliant throughball only for the latter to get flagged for offside just as his cut-back was intercepted by Pepe!
65'
Another Cancelo cross is dealt with by Milenkovic, who has had a sterling game alongside Spajic marshalling the Serbian wall that is their defence.
63'
More attempts by the home side are thwarted by a resolute Serbian backline, who were expected to give the Selecao a tough time of it prior to this fixture.
61'
Another extended bit of possession from the home side, who unsurprisingly has had most of the ball, ends with jeers as Carvalho’s long pass goes out of play.
58'
André Silva enters the game and replaces Dyego Sousa.
Santos makes his second change of the game, hooking off Sousa to be replaced by Andre Silva.
53'
Portugal continue to probe inside the Serbian half, and Cancelo manages to deliver a teasing ball towards Sousa only for Dmitrovic to react quickest and claim the cross.
50'
Radonjic tries his luck from range, but the chance fizzes wide of Patricio’s right.
46'
Portugal get play restarted as the second half gets underway!
No changes for either side after the interval, as both sides now line up in a 4-4-2 as they each seek an advantage over the other.
45' +4
HALF-TIME: PORTUGAL 1-1 SERBIA
45' +3
Tadic goes past Danilo with a wonderful bit of skill before whipping in a low cross towards Lazovic whose shot is blocked and cleared for another away corner. However, nothing comes of Ljajic’s set-piece and Marciniak blows the whistle for the break.
45' +1
Pepe gets yellow.
To absolutely no one’s surprise, Pepe gets the game’s first booking for a cynical challenge at Mitrovic - catching the forward’s ankle as he was running towards goal.
42'
Danilo Pereira has scored a goal for Portugal! Assist by Raphaël Guerreiro.
The goal was all Danilo, but Guerreiro gets the assist for getting the ball to the midfielder before his wonderful strike.
GOOOOOAAAALLLL!!! DANILO EQUALISES WITH STYLE!! The Porto midfielder is given the freedom of the Estadio da Luz as he is allowed to charge forward from inside his own half before letting fly with a rocket of a shot that goes past Dmitrovic, smacks the underside of the crossbar and bounces into the back of the net! It’s now 1-1, and Portugal get themselves back in it just before the interval!
33'
Carvalho tries to switch play over to the marauding Guerreiro, but the pass is too high for the left-back to reach and Serbia gain a throw-in.
31'
The extent of his injury is unknown, but the home side suffer a huge blow to add to their current woes as Ronaldo comes off for Pizzi.
30'
Pizzi enters the game and replaces Cristiano Ronaldo.
25'
Dmitrovic has to rush out and punch Guerreiro’s cross away following another extended spell of Portuguese possession.
21'
N. Radonjić enters the game and replaces M. Gaćinović.
Gacinovic, who was looked at by medical staff only a few minutes ago, is unable to continue playing and is taken off for Radonjic as the injury problems continue to mount for Krstajic.
20'
Spajic appears to take down Sousa in the box, but referee Marciniak waves away the latter’s protests to more furious whistling from the home support.
17'
Lazovic’s delivery threatens to cause some awkwardness in the Portugal area after he skipped past Guerreiro, but Cancelo cuts it out before the ball could get to Gacinovic! Corner to Serbia.
14'
The Estadio da Luz is filled with the sounds of jeers as Gacinovic takes his time getting looked at by medics after appearing to hurt himself in a bid to barge Ronaldo off the ball. Play resumes as the Eintracht Frankfurt winger is being taken off the pitch with Cancelo preparing to take the throw-in.
11'
Dmitrovic stands tall and is able to catch Ronaldo’s dipping drive from about 30 yards out, clutching it to his chest.
7'
Penalty goal scored by D. Tadić for Serbia!
GOOAAALLL!! SERBIA DRAW FIRST BLOOD! Tadic calmly sends Patricio the wrong way as he dispatches his penalty with aplomb! 1-0 to Serbia, and a huge early blow for Santos’ Portugal as they must now go for broke against one of Europe’s meanest defences!
2'
Ronaldo’s first touch of the game is a poor one, as he fails to control Guerreiro’s short cross before watching the ball trickle away for a Serbia goal kick.
1'
The hosts are decked in their iconic burgundy kits and green socks, while the visitors are sporting an all-white number with red details.
Referee Szymon Marciniak blows his whistle, and Serbia get us underway at the Estadio de Luz!
Rafa goes on a mazy run down the wing, already exciting the vocal home support, but his cross is cut out and cleared.
Despite their record against their hosts, Serbia will be extra motivated heading into their opening qualifier after holding the 2014 World Cup winners Germany to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday. After a strong UEFA Nations League campaign which saw them top their group last autumn, Mladen Krsajic’s men will look to their watertight defence to hold firm against Cristiano Ronaldo and company as they seek an eighth unbeaten game on the trot.
And without further ado, let’s take a look at how both sides line up, starting with the hosts.
SUBSTITUTES: Mario Rui, Beto, Diogo Jota, Joao Mario, Joao Moutinho, Jose Sa, Nelson Semedo, Jose Fonte, Pizzi, Ruben Neves, Andre Silva, Goncalo Guedes.
PORTUGAL XI (4-4-2): Rui Patricio; Joao Cancelo, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Raphael Guerreiro; Bernardo Silva, Danilo Pereira, William Carvalho, Rafa; Cristiano Ronaldo (c), Dyego Sousa.
SERBIA XI (4-1-4-1): Marko Dmitrovic; Antonio Rukavina, Uros Spajic, Nikola Milenkovic, Filip Mladenovic; Nemanja Maksimovic; Darko Lazovic, Dusan Tadic (c), Adem Ljajic, Mijat Gacinovic; Aleksandar Mitrovic.
SUBSTITUTES: Nikola Vasiljevic, Milos Veljkovic, Stefan Mitrovic, Nemanja Radonjic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Branko Jovicic, Sasa Lukic, Andrija Zivkovic, Milan Gajic, Predrag Rajkovic, Milan Pavkov, Luka Jovic.
Hello, and welcome to our LIVE coverage of this Euro 2020 qualifier as Portugal host Serbia at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon!
The players are out and kick-off is drawing near.
The defending champions didn’t get their qualifying campaign off to the best of starts as they were held to a goalless draw on Sunday at the Estadio da Luz against a game Ukraine side who, in the FIFA world rankings, are 24 places below them. They now face a side who haven’t beaten them in four attempts, and head coach Fernando Santos will see this as a chance for the Selecao to make amends for their dreary display only three days ago and gain maximum points in their quest to top their group.
Despite Ronaldo’s injury, Santos’ Selecao must now see themselves as favourites after grabbing the equaliser at such a crucial stage of the game. Expect Bernardo Silva - who has been his side’s creative fulcrum - and his team-mates to go hell for leather in an attempt to win. As for Krstajic’s Serbia, more of the same defensive solidity - combined with Tadic's and Mitrovic’s contributions in the final third - and we could see them regain the lead. A very interesting second half awaits us at Lisbon.
And that wraps up our coverage. We hope you enjoyed our commentary, and until next time, goodbye!
Both sides don’t play their next competitive matches until June, as Krstajic’s Serbia continue their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign at Ukraine on the 7th. As for Santos’ Portugal, they will be taking part in the Nations League as they prepare to face Switzerland at the Estadio de Dragao two days beforehand.
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