Match report
A chaotic 90 minutes in World Cup Group G on Friday ultimately culminated in Switzerland edging out Serbia, to keep the country’s Qatar adventure very much alive.
The final round of fixtures in Group G were played to completion just moments ago.
Whilst table-topping Brazil faced off with Cameroon, the aforementioned Switzerland locked horns with Serbia would see them guaranteed of spot in the Last-16, as runners-up.
And, when all was said and done, clinch a vital three points is precisely what Murat Yakin’s troops went on to do.
The Swiss opened the game’s scoring inside 20 minutes, upon attacking talisman Xherdan Shaqiri driving home at the near post with his trusty left foot:
Serbia, though, soon turned the clash firmly on its head, owing to Aleksandar Mitrovic’s deft header, and strike partner Dusan Vlahovic’s clever rolled finish into the far bottom corner:
Just when it appeared as though the Serbs had taken control of proceedings, though, the nation’s alarming defensive issues proved costly once more.
This came as Silvan Widmer was afforded far too much room down the right, to roll across for Breel Embolo’s simple finish from close range.
From here, Switzerland swiftly retook the lead on the far side of the interval, when a gorgeously-constructed team move culminated in Remo Freuler slotting low into the net of Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
And this is how things remained through the full-time whistle in Doha, as a Swiss outfit keen to reiterate their reputation as giant killers sent a Serbian side brimming with talent packing from international football’s most high-profile competition.
Player ratings
Serbia
- Vanja Milinkovic-Savic - 5.5
- Nikola Milenkovic - 5.5
- Milos Veljkovic - 5
- Strahinja Pavlovic - 5.5
- Andrija Zivkovic - 6.5
- Sergej Milinkovic-Savic - 5.5
- Sasa Lukic - 5
- Filip Kostic - 6.5
- Dusan Tadic - 7.5
- Dusan Vlahovic - 7
- Aleksandar Mitrovic - 6.5
Substitutes - Luka Jovic - 6, Nemanja Gudelj - 5.5, Nemanja Maksimovic - 6, Nemanja Radonjic - N/A, Filip Djuricic - N/A
Switzerland
- Gregor Kobel - 5.5
- Silvan Widmer - 6.5
- Manuel Akanji - 7
- Fabian Schar - 6.5
- Ricardo Rodriguez - 6
- Granit Xhaka - 7
- Remo Freuler - 6.5
- Djibril Sow - 6
- Ruben Vargas - 6.5
- Xherdan Shaqiri - 7
- Breel Embolo - 7
Substitutes: Edimilson Fernandes - 6, Denis Zakaria - 6.5, Christian Fassnacht - N/A, Noah Okafor - N/A
Key stats
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