Portugal vs. Serbia: Winners and Losers from Euro 2016 Qualifier
Portugal took control of Group I in the Euro 2016 qualification stages, beating Serbia 2-1 at home on Sunday night to go top by two points at the halfway stage.
Ricardo Carvalho was left unmarked to head home the opening goal in the first half, before two goals in two minutes shaped the second period: a spectacular overhead equaliser by Nemanja Matic, followed immediately by Fabio Coentrao racing in to score at the other end.
Here are all our winners and losers from the match.
Winner: Fabio Coentrao
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Fabio Coentrao was one of Portugal's big performers on the day, moving into an advanced midfield role down the left side and impressing both on and off the ball.
He closed down quickly, made a few big challenges high up the field to force Serbia backward and linked play well as his team broke forward at pace.
The biggest contribution, of course, was his goal—tapped home from five yards underneath the goalkeeper after sprinting long-distance to reach a low cross at the far post. A very good display from the Real Madrid man.
Losers: Ivanovic and Basta
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Defensively, Serbia were aggressive and kept plenty of numbers back, but individually they were poor for the most part.
Right-back Dusan Basta had a 'mare for both goals, bizarrely passing the ball out of play under little pressure to concede a corner in the first half—which resulted in the game's opening goal. Later on he ran in with Coentrao to the back post and failed to get a touch or block on the cross, letting the Portuguese midfielder score from a yard behind him instead.
Captain Branislav Ivanovic was little better, beaten one-on-one in several duels and standing far, far too far away from Ricardo Carvalho in the build-up to the first goal—thus resulting in a free header for the Portuguese centre-back.
Winner: Cristiano Ronaldo
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This wasn't a game where any individual starred consistently and spectacularly in the final third, including Cristiano Ronaldo, but the Real Madrid man certainly showed he was a cut above anyone else on the pitch.
Several times Ronaldo's searing acceleration saw him create danger out of nothing by bursting between the defenders, getting away from Ivanovic in particular with ease, while he also almost found the top corner from range with a drilled shot.
Late in the game his pressing and work rate was evident as he challenged and closed down three players in a row, forcing Serbia all the way back to their goalkeeper to keep his team's lead intact.
Loser: Serbia's Qualification Dreams
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Having had three points deducted for an incident in an earlier qualification game, Serbia knew they needed a result in this match to have much of a chance of progressing in their Euro 2016 group.
The defeat in Portugal, however, leaves them with one point from four matches, now sitting six adrift of third-placed Albania and second-placed Denmark.
They are halfway through their qualification campaign now and have much ground to make up if they are to have even the most remote chance of sneaking third; getting four wins from their next four games is pretty much paramount now.
Winner: Fernando Santos
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Having taken over as Portugal boss after the dismal loss to Albania, Fernando Santos has overseen wins over Denmark, Armenia and now Serbia to take Portugal to the top of the group.
The side hasn't changed an awful lot—the formation is still a standard 4-3-3, and the emphasis is still on the same group of key players—but the manager is getting wins, and that's what matters right now.
With bottom side Armenia up next, Portugal have taken control of the group under Santos and are in a good place to go on and assure themselves of automatic qualification.
