Two targets from Richarlison impressed Brazil to a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Serbia on Thursday night.
A scrappy sport got here to life after the break as Brazil discovered their groove and Richarlison grabbed two spectacular targets to provide the pre-tournament favourites the perfect begin to life in Qatar.
Neymar almost caught out Serbia goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic straight from a nook after ten minutes, with the previous Manchester United goalkeeper reacting nicely to beat the ball away.
Milinkovic-Savic got here to his staff’s rescue once more quickly after as he raced off his line to confront the electrical Vinicius Junior, diving on the Actual Madrid man’s ft to clear the hazard earlier than he may get a shot off.
Raphinha and Vinicius Junior ought to have executed much better with probabilities quickly after as Brazil, whereas dominant, failed to essentially ask any questions of the 6’9 monster in between Serbia’s posts inside the primary 45 minutes.
After the break, Brazil’s first actual alternative got here after ten minutes as Neymar misjudged a cross and slashed a superb likelihood nicely large of the aim.
Alex Sandro then struck the put up with a fierce strike from vary, earlier than Richarlison lastly opened the scoring simply after the hour mark.
Some good work within the field from Neymar ended with the ball on the ft of Vinicius, whose strike was parried into the trail of the Tottenham ahead to faucet dwelling and put Brazil deservedly forward.
His first was a bit scrappy however there was nothing however class about Richarlison’s second. With quarter-hour to go, he bought as much as meet a cross with an outrageous bicycle kick which thundered into the again of the online and sealed the win in emphatic type.
Casemiro had a sensational try at a 3rd as he fired at aim from vary, however Milinkovic-Savic was equal to it.
They did not want the third, nonetheless, as Serbia provided little or no going forwards and allowed Brazil to waltz to victory.
GK: Alisson – 6/10 – Did not have an entire lot to do.
RB: Danilo – 5/10 – Defensively sound however video games like this require extra in assault.
CB: Thiago Silva – 8/10 – Did every thing he wanted on the again and operated like a quarterback in possession, selecting aside Serbia’s defence with ease.
CB: Marquinhos – 7/10 – Equally as comfy as his defensive accomplice. Will likely be relieved to have averted a battle with Mitrovic.
LB: Alex Sandro – 5/10 – Wanted to take action way more down the left wing.
DM: Casemiro – 8/10 – Elegant passing vary. Did not have quite a lot of defending to take action had all the liberty on this planet to flash his extra artistic aspect.
DM: Lucas Paqueta – 7/10 – Did not play as deep as his position would recommend as he had loads of alternatives to tug the strings in midfield.
RM: Raphinha – 4/10 – Bumped into just a few lifeless ends and responsible of some actually underwhelming pictures on aim. Did not actually lookup for it in opposition to Serbia’s bruising defenders.
AM: Neymar – 6/10 – Focused by loads of fouls however dropped deeper within the second half to try to orchestrate issues a bit higher. Made some questionable choices at instances.
LM: Vinicius Junior – 8/10 – A relentless menace down the left and walked away with a few assists.
ST: Richarlison – 7/10 – Extremely quiet earlier than his targets however regarded a large menace after the break.
SUB: Fred (75′ for Paqueta) – 6/10
SUB: Rodrygo (75′ for Vinicius) – 7/10
SUB: Antony (79′ for Neymar) – 6/10
SUB: Gabriel Jesus (79′ for Richarlison) – 6/10
SUB: Gabriel Martinelli (87′ for Raphinha) – N/A
Supervisor: Tite – 7/10 – Criticised on-line by followers who did not see the worth in substituting his prime gamers when the sport was already received. Made quite a few sensible calls right here.
GK: Vanja Milinkovic-Savic – 7/10 – Flew off his line to make a courageous problem on Vinicius Junior within the first half. Commanded his field.
CB: Milos Veljkovic – 6/10 – A number of determined blocks at instances however you may’t fault the hassle.
CB: Nikola Milenkovic – 7/10 – An actual monster in opposition to Brazil’s forwards within the first half. Unlucky to lose his clear sheet.
CB: Strahinja Pavlovic – 7/10 – Wasn’t frightened of Raphinha’s tempo in any way. Went toe-to-toe with him and nearly at all times got here out on prime.
RM: Andrija Zivkovic – 5/10 – Did a stable job defensively however his lack of motion in assault ensured Serbia remained on the again foot for the primary hour.
CM: Sergej Milinkovic-Savic – 6/10 – Had just a few scrumptious runs from deep however was largely saved out of issues by Casemiro.
CM: Nemanja Gudelj – 7/10 – His yellow card early within the second half modified the tone of the sport as he could not preserve his spectacular defensive ranges.
CM: Sasa Lukic – 6/10 – Did an honest defensive job. Appeared decided to tear Neymar’s shirt off at instances.
LM: Filip Mladenovic – 4/10 – His lack of attacking output was a large problem earlier than his substitution.
AM: Dusan Tadic – 5/10 – Had the odd good second however could not get as concerned as he is used to at membership stage.
ST: Aleksandar Mitrovic – 2/10 – Starved of service however did not do an entire lot to assist himself.
SUB: Ivan Ilic (57′ for Gudelj) – 5/10
SUB: Nemanja Radonjic (57′ for Zivkovic) – 5/10
SUB: Dusan Vlahovic (66′ for Mladenovic) – 5/10
SUB: Darko Lazovic (66′ for Lukic) – 5/10
SUB: Nemanja Maksimovic (83′ for Mitrovic) – N/A
Supervisor: Dragan Stojkovic – 5/10 – Tried to set his aspect as much as be powerful to beat however could not give you a solution to stay with Brazil. Appeared to be chasing shadows within the second half as he modified methods.
