Portugal vs. Serbia, Euro 2016 qualifying: Final score 2-1, Coentrão key to Portugal seeing off sloppy Serbs

It could only be a win for Portugal if they wanted to take first place in their Euro 2016 qualifying group, and a win is exactly what they got at home in the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, with Fábio Coentrão proving to be the vital element to his side beating Serbia. The 2-1 win saw Portugal pass two other sides to grab the top group spot, and continued the miserable start to qualifying that the Serbs have suffered.

It was anything but a dream start for Serbia as Portugal got forward with several dangerous attacks early that the Serbs were just barely able to parry away. Before 10 minutes were even gone, Dusan Basta found himself on the ball with Portuguese striker Danny a short distance behind. For no reason that anyone watching could figure out, Basta put the ball behind for a corner kick -- despite having plenty of space and time to turn and boot the ball up the pitch for a deep throw in at worst, especially with Danny not pressing with anything resembling aggression.

That corner proved disastrous for Serbia. Portugal sent it short, with Fábio Coentrão receiving the ball in space and given acres of space and as much time as he pleased to pick a pass as Serbia’s defense was completely shut off, despite being in the middle of defending a set piece. That let Coentrão’s cross find Ricardo Carvalho’s head in front of goal, and just like that it was 1-0 to Portugal.

The celebrations didn’t last long for Portugal, who saw their goalscorer depart the pitch with injury just seven minutes later. They also didn’t find the going nearly so easy from thereon out, as the goal seemed to wake up Serbia and the visitors put up a much stronger fight for the rest of the half. Things were much more even in that closing half hour of the period, with both sides getting several chances to score, but the half ended 1-0 as neither side found a breakthrough.

The Serbs had a few good moments early in the second half of the match, but quickly seemed to wear down as Portugal kept running them up and down the pitch. There was a moment of hope for Serbia when Nemanja Matić got Serbia on the scoresheet with a stunning bicycle kick goal, but his side barely had time to celebrate before João Moutinho caught their defense napping with a run in to the box, and Basta failed to track Coentrão’s far post run, letting Moutinho set up his teammate for a tap-in to make it 2-1.

Coentrão nearly had a second goal to add to his early assist when he burst into the box several minutes after scoring, but his shot was blocked. Portugal were well in control of the match by then, though, with their Serbian guests struggling to keep pace and find a way back in.

They never did find that miracle goal or mistake to exploit, and instead it was Serbia ruing their own mistakes in the match. They really only made the two serious misjudgments, but against a team like Portugal, you can’t afford to make any, because they will find a way to exploit them. That opportunism sees Portugal past Denmark and Albania in to first place of their qualifying group, sitting on nine points in four matches, two points clear of the Danes and Albanians. Serbia, meanwhile, are tied with lowly Armenia with just one point earned so far. If the Serbs can’t sort out their problems, they won’t be earning too many more points the rest of the way.

Goals: Carvalho (10’), Coentrão (63’)

Goals: Matić (61’)