Posted by Paulinho and Thiago Silva struck to power Brazil to a 2-0 win over Serbia at the Otkrytie Arena in Moscow, securing first place in group E. Knowing that a loss would endanger their record of consecutive knockout stage qualifications stretching back to England 1966, the South Americans fielded an unchanged line-up from their previous match against Costa Rica. While they needed a 91st minute strike from Philippe Coutinho to defeat the Ticos, the five-time World Cup champions were much more comfortable here.
The two teams canceled each other out early on, with the most notable moment being the substitution of Marcelo by Filipe Luis in the 10th minute due to injury. The first real chance of the match did not arrive until the 25th minute, when Neymar found enough space in the box to release a powerful left-footed shot from an acute angle, forcing a sharp save from Serbia goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic. Brazil were nearly ahead minutes later, as Neymar chipped a ball down the left side for Gabriel Jesus, who cut inside on his right but saw his curling effort blocked by Serbian center-back Nikola Milenkovic.
The five-time World Cup champions found the breakthrough on 36 minutes, as Barcelona teammates Coutinho and Paulinho combined to open up the Serbian rearguard. Given far too much time in midfield, Coutinho clipped a ball over the Serbia defense for Paulinho, whose run through the middle wasn’t tracked. After letting the ball bounce across his body, the ex-Tottenham man stretched to caress the ball over the onrushing Stojkovic.
Needing a victory to avoid elimination, Serbia pushed forward at the beginning of the second half, and created a flurry of chances. First, Torino man Adam Ljajic received a return ball from Dusan Tadic on a 4-on-3 break, but his attempt to cut inside was foiled by Casemiro. Ljajic was involved again shortly afterwards, as his whipped in-swinging cross from the left hand side was dealt with unconvincingly by center-back Miranda, who shanked the ball into touch for a corner. A Brazil break from the resulting corner saw Coutinho curl a pass into the path of Neymar, who took a few touches before seeing his low, left-footed effort parried away by Stojkovic.
After that let-off, Serbia went back on the front-foot, with Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson only able to divert an Antonio Rukavina cross into the path of forward Aleksandar Mitrovic, whose point-blank header could only find Thiago Silva’s knee. Mitrovic had another great chance soon after, as a lofted Rukavina cross found him at the back-post, but the ex-Newcastle man directed his header right at Alisson.
Serbia were left to rue their missed chances when Thiago Silva put Brazil 2-0 up in the 68th minute. From a Neymar corner, Silva arrived at the near post to nod past Stojkovic, with Serbian claims of a foul by Miranda on Mitrovic falling on deaf ears. From there, Serbia’s attacking threat diminished, and Neymar intensified the search for his first goal of this World Cup. The PSG star first scuffed a volley over the bar from the penalty spot after Willian had cut back for him, before his attempt to flip the ball over Stojkovic was swatted away by the keeper. When Neymar rounded Stojkovic in the 93rd minute only to see his shot blocked, it was clear that he would have to wait until the knockout stages for another chance at a first strike at Russia 2018.
The win sees Brazil matched up with Mexico in the round of 16. Serbia, on the other hand, finish their World Cup with this loss, and are still looking for their first knockout stage qualification as an independent nation.
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