Brazil comfortably see off Serbia to secure place in the knockouts

Brazil, Serbia and Switzerland were vying for two qualification places in Group E when the final matches took place on Wednesday evening. 

A draw would have seen Brazil progress while only a victory would have been good enough for the Serbs.

However, it was the South American side who started brighter, enjoying a flurry of chances in the opening minutes. 

Philippe Coutinho saw his shot blocked by a defender before Gabriel Jesus could only hit his effort into the body of opposing goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic.

The match then took a sour turn when Marcelo was forced off in the 10th minute. His injury wasn't apparant to viewers but the full-back looked disorientated as he left the field with assistance from his team's medics.

Felipe Luis took his place and Brazil's make-shift defence did well to nullify the physical threat of Aleksandr Mitrovic in the first half.

In fact, Tite's side were dominating and finally found their breakthrough in the 35th minute thanks to an unlikely goalscorer. 

A beautiful ball by Coutinho flew over the Serbian defence and into the path of Paulinho who flicked his shot over Stojkovic and into the back of the net to make it 1-0.

His goal was enough to give Brazil a lead at half-time but Serbia weren't going to sit back and which their World Cup dreams slip away without a fight.

A four-minute onslaught around the 60-minute mark left Mitrovic with the perfect opportunity to equalise.

A cross from the right was foolishly punched out by Alisson but the rebound fell perfectly for Mitrovic to head home. Instead of guiding his effort to the corners though, the forward headed straight and his effort was blocked by a defender.

It was Serbia's golden chance and they were left ruing their missed opportunity when Brazil doubled their advantage just minutes later. 

Thiago Silva fought his way to the near post before rising the highest to head a corner into the back of the net to make it 2-0 to the 'Canarinha' and effectively seal victory.

The goal unsurprisingly deflated Serbia who fell 2-0 to Brazil in Moscow to confirm their exit from the competition.

As for Tite's side, following Switzerland's 2-2 draw with Costa Rica, the win takes them to the top of Group E where they will face Mexico in the Round of 16.

 

27 June 2018