Macedonia 1 - 0 Serbia: Macedonia stun Serbia in Skopje

Published on 17/10/2012 02:44

Serbia’s hopes of reaching their second successive World Cup as an independent nation took a serious blow after they slipped to a 1-0 defeat at southern neighbours Macedonia after a lacklustre performance last night.

The loss left the Serbians with four points from as many games, six behind Belgium and bitter regional rivals Croatia, whom they visit in a potentially explosive clash in March.

Serbia coach Sinisa Mihajlovic surprisingly left captain Branislav Ivanovic on the bench and the decision backfired spectacularly as his replacement Nenad Tomovic was sent off in the 58th minute.

The right back hauled down Macedonia striker Ferhan Hasani and the livewire Agim Ibraimi, who supplied the defence-splitting pass that left Tomovic stranded, steered in the penalty to the delight of the vociferous home fans.

Hasani and Ibraimi gave the Serbian defence a roasting after a tepid first half in which neither side created a clear cut chance while both gave away possession in midfield time and again. Dusan Tadic nearly snatched an equaliser when he shot wide after a good solo run and winger Zoran Tosic skied his shot from 12 yards over the bar with time running out.

Macedonia: Pacovski, Lazevski, Noveski, Grncarov, Georgievski, Gligorov, Demiri (Sumulikoski 86), Tasevski (Trickovski 72), Hasani, Ibraimi, Ivanovski (Ristovski 90). Subs Not Used: Bogatinov, Naumovski, Sikov, Markovski, Stjepanovic, 
Georgiev.

Serbia: Brkic, Tomovic, Bisevac, Nasasic,
Kolarov,Ignjovski,Fejsa, Tosic,Tadic (Ivanovic 68),Markovic (Sulejmani 74), Djuricic (Lekic 63). Subs Not Used: Jorgacevic,Kahriman,Petrovic,Maksimovic,
Subotic.