Real Madrid's Fabio Coentrao scored the winning goal as Portugal beat Serbia 2-1 in Lisbon on Sunday to move top of Euro 2016 qualifying Group I.
Coentrao arrived at the back post to convert a low ball across the box from Joao Moutinho to decide the encounter at the Estadio da Luz after Nemanja Matic had cancelled out Ricardo Carvalho's early opener with a spectacular strike.
Cristiano Ronaldo captained the home side but in the absence of another Real Madrid star, central defender Pepe, the veteran Carvalho played alongside Bruno Alves in the heart of the back four.
And the 36-year-old Monaco man got the breakthrough 10 minutes in, heading past Vladimir Stojkovic from a Coentrao cross to score his first international goal in eight years after Dusan Basta had needlessly given away a corner.
Serbia, playing their first competitive game under Radovan Curcic and struggling in the section, drew level from a corner of their own in the 61st minute.
Aleksandar Kolarov's ball in from the left was helped on by Radosav Petrovic and Chelsea midfielder Matic -- back on the ground where he used to star for Benfica -- connected with a stunning acrobatic overhead kick that left Rui Patricio helpless in goal.
But Serbia were only level for two minutes before Coentrao got Portugal's winner, to the delight of the home fans in the crowd of more than 58,000.
Source: AFP
GMT 22:27 2018 Thursday ,13 December
Russian swimmer Prigoda takes gold in China with new WR in men’s 200m breaststrokeGMT 11:54 2018 Tuesday ,11 December
Ajax and Bayern in tasty Champions League duel for first placeGMT 17:44 2018 Tuesday ,23 October
Russian UFC Champ Nurmagomedov’s win was "fair and square"GMT 21:29 2018 Friday ,19 October
Moscow to host 2020 European Weightlifting ChampionshipsGMT 16:48 2018 Monday ,15 October
Russian fighter Nurmagomedov may be suspended for six monthsGMT 18:14 2018 Sunday ,07 October
Russia’s Nurmagomedov crushes McGregor, defends UFC titleGMT 17:44 2018 Thursday ,04 October
Underdogs CSKA beat Real Madrid in Moscow while a man downGMT 16:40 2018 Sunday ,02 September
Unified Korean team delivers historic medals, hopesMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor