Portugal had to settle for a draw against host Serbia with a score of 2-2 in the 2022 World Cup qualifying match.
Portugal had the upper hand in the first half after they took a two-goal lead through Diogo Jota. Diogo Jota’s first goal was scored in the 11th minute. Bernardo Silva’s measured pass to the far post can be read well by Diogo Jota. The Liverpool striker fired a header that Serbia goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic could not stop.
In the 36th minute, Diogo Jota thrilled the Serbia goal again with a header. Taking advantage of Cedric Soares’ cross from the right, Diogo Jota’s header was again not cleared by Dmitrovic.
Behind two goals, Serbia rose in the second half. Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a quick goal in the 46th minute. Mitrovic found the net with a header from Nemanja Radonjic’s cross.
Finally the position is equally strong in the 60th minute through Filip Kostic. Radonjic is back as an assist provider. Radonjic’s bait made Kostic free and successfully beat Portugal goalkeeper Anthony Lopes.
In injury time, Ronaldo managed to open a shot from a fairly narrow angle. The ball shot by Ronaldo could not be blocked by the Serbian goalkeeper, Marko Dmitrovic, who tried to move forward to close Ronaldo’s movement.
The ball then slid slowly into the goal. From replays, it was seen that the ball had crossed the goal line before being cleared by Mitrovic. That moment was not considered a goal by referee Danny Makkelie. Ronaldo also looks annoyed and angry and slams the captain’s armband around his arm.
This moment was even more detrimental to Ronaldo because he instead received a yellow card for expressing his disappointment.
Serbia and Portugal tried hard to find the winning goal but the score lasted until the end of the match. These results make Serbia and Portugal temporarily collect four points from two matches.
In the other match in Group A, Ireland narrowly lost 0-1 to the guests, Luxembourg. Luxembourg’s single winning goal was scored by Gerson Rodrigues.
Meanwhile, in Group E, Belgium had to settle for a draw against the host Rep. Czech. Rep. Czech took the lead through Lukas Provod in the 50th minute.
Belgium finally equalized through Romelu Lukaku in the 61st minute.
These results make Czech Republic and Belgium both collect four points in Group E.
