EURO 2020 Qualifier
Result: Serbia 2-4 Portugal
Date: 07 September 2019
Venue: Stadion Rajko Mitic
Cristiano Ronaldo netted his 89th goal for Portugal, who defeated Serbia 4-2 in a thrilling 2020 European Championship qualifier on Saturday night.
Dusan Tadic and Aleksandar Mitrovic spearheaded Serbia's attack, whilst Pepe's suspension invited Jose Fonte into the Portuguese line-up. Filip Kostic provided the first chance four minutes to the half-hour mark as his cross-cum shot diverted away from the far corner following a quiet start from both sets. After a quiet spell in the half, the Portuguese however grabbed the opener after 42 minutes when William Carvalho made the most of a goal-mouth scramble to finish into an empty net. Unlike the first half, Portugal pushed for an early dominance in the second half with Ronaldo going close with successive shots from outside the area. Goncalo Guedes handed the Selecao a two-goal lead on 58 minutes as he evaded two challengers inside the area to find the top corner. The lifeline for Serbia arrived on 68 minutes after Nikola Milenkovic beat Danilo to the ball from a corner to head beyond Rui Patricio. Joao Felix, who joined Atletico Madrid for a club record fee, came off the bench two minutes later as Portugal threw on their first change with Guedes sacrificed. Ronaldo restored Portugal's two-goal advantage in the final 10 minutes after beating the offside trap to dink aside Marko Dmitrovic from Bernardo Silva's through ball. Mitrovic give the visitors a nervy end to the match as he stayed goal-side to fire into the roof of the net after picking up a loose ball. However, Portugal though added more to their tally with five minutes remaining after Silva found space on the inside-right of the area to slot into the bottom corner. No further goals materialised afterwards , thus granting the Portuguese their first victory in the group whilst shifting focus to Lithuania.
