Cristiano Ronaldo was at the heart of chaotic scenes in Belgrade tonight, as Portugal were denied a last-minute winner versus Serbia.
Kostic cancels out Jota
The European champions made the trip to the Red Star Stadium a short time ago, for their latest World Cup qualifier.
Fernando Santos’ men headed into proceedings in search of a much improved display, after scraping past Azerbaijan by a solitary goal in the country’s group opener during the week.
And, with 45 minutes on the clock this evening, Portugal looked well on their way to precisely that.
A dominant showing saw the visitors carry a two-goal lead into the interval, courtesy of a pair of headers from Liverpool star Diogo Jota:
Diogo Jota scores his second header of the night!
Portugal comfortable in Belgrade! #SRBPOR #WCQ pic.twitter.com/auvCnZACYo
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) March 27, 2021
The early exchanges of the second-half, however, proved a very different story.
Portugal reemerged looking lethargic, almost as if they had already secured all 3 points. And Serbia, in turn, went on to take full advantage.
The hosts pulled one back through Aleksandar Mitrovic less than a minute after the interval, before Filip Kostic rounded out a wonderful team move to level things up on the hour mark:
BRILLIANT FROM SERBIA!
Filip Kostić makes it 2-2!
Fantastic goal!#SRBPOR #WCQ pic.twitter.com/5TDJwed9jf
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) March 27, 2021
CR7 denied
From here, both sides struggled to create clear-cut chances, as the clash appeared set to peter out into stalemate.
This, though, was only before proceedings exploded back into life, deep into injury time.
First, Nikola Milenkovic was sent for an early bath, for a late challenge on Danilo in the middle of the park.
Then, just seconds later, it looked absolutely certain that Cristiano Ronaldo had clinched the victory for Portugal, right at the death.
Nuno Mendes’ long ball into the Serbia penalty area left Marko Dmitrovic clutching at thin air, allowing Ronaldo to sneak in at the back post, before directing a volleyed effort into the empty net.
Just when it appeared as though the ball was set to roll into the goal, though, Stefan Mitrovic somehow managed to drag the effort to safety, before also blocking Bernardo Silva’s follow-up.
A heroic effort on the part of Serbia’s captain.
It was only upon replays being broadcast, however, that the reality of the situation became clear.
As showcased below, the ball had clearly made its way over the line prior to Mitrovic’s intervention. But with goalline technology not in use during European World Cup qualifiers, neither the linesman or referee Danny Makkelie were confident enough to award Portugal their deserved winner:
Ronaldo scored a dramatic winner in the 93rd minute against Serbia to make it 3-2 to Portugal. But this was judged not to have crossed the line. You can imagine how furious he was pic.twitter.com/CRqkzXWUW3
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) March 27, 2021
HUGE DRAMA IN BELGRADE! 😮
▪️ Cristiano Ronaldo thought he’d won it!
▪️ Referee said no goal!
▪️ No VAR.
▪️ Ronaldo storms off the pitch!#SRBPOR #WCQ pic.twitter.com/p9N61Wpwde— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) March 27, 2021
Ronaldo, understandably livid, went on to storm off the field of play seconds before the full-time whistle in Belgrade, throwing his captain’s armband on the ground in the process:
Cristiano Ronaldo walked off the pitch before the final whistle at the end of the Serbia-Portugal game, and threw his captain’s armband in frustration. pic.twitter.com/I2i9uwkPhM
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 27, 2021
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