BEOGRAD. Serbia tops Azerbaijan 3-1. Serbia took advantage of its superior ball possession (57%).

The match was played at the Stadion Rajko Mitić stadium in Beograd on Tuesday and it started at 6:45 pm local time. The referee was Erik Lambrechts who was helped by Rien Vanyzere and Jo De Weirdt. The 4th official was Nathan Verboomen. The weather was rainy. The temperature was cold at 9.8 degrees Celsius or 49.64 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 87%.​

Match Statistics​

Serbia was in firm control of the ball 57% while Azerbaijan was struggling with a 43% ball possession.

Serbia was more aggressive with 68 dangerous attacks and 21 shots of which 10 were on target. This is one of the reasons why Serbia won the match​.

Serbia shot 21 times, 10 on target, 11 off target. On the opposite side, Azerbaijan shot 7 times, 2 on target, 5 off target.

Cards

Serbia didn’t receive any yellow card. On the opposite side, Azerbaijan received 2 yellow cards (M. Medvedev and H. Haghverdi).

Standings

After playing this encounter, Serbia will have 17 points to stay in the 1st place. On the other side, Azerbaijan will stay with 1 points to stay in the 5th place.

Next matches

In the next match in the WC Qualification Europe, Serbia will play away against Portugal on the 14th of November with a 3-0 head to head stats in favor of Portugal (4 draws).

Azerbaijan will host Luxembourg on the 11th of November with a 1-1 head to head.

Serbia – Formation

Serbia adopted the 3-4-1-2 line-up (3-4-1-2).

The manager Dragan Stojković decided to play with the following team: Predrag Rajković (6.4), Miloš Veljković (6.5), Stefan Mitrović (6.3), Matija Nastasić (7.2), Darko Lazović (7.2), Marko Grujić (7.1), Saša Lukić (7.1), Filip Kostić (7.3), Sergej Milinković-Savić (7.7), Luka Jović (7.3) and Dušan Vlahović (9.8).

The home team had on the bench: Andrija Živković, Mihailo Ristić, Nemanja Gudelj, Filip Mladenović, Dušan Tadić (7.4), Nemanja Radonjić (6.1), Nemanja Maksimović, Uroš Račić, Uroš Spajić, Aleksandar Mitrović (6.4), Mile Svilar and Marko Dmitrović.

Substitutions

Serbia made 5 changes: L. Jovic for A. Mitrovic (65′), M. Grujic for D. Tadic (66′), F. Kostic for N. Radonjic (75′), D. Lazovic for F. Mladenovic (88′) and D. Vlahovic for N. Maksimovic (88′).

Best player: Dušan Vlahović​

The player that probably impressed the most for Serbia was Dušan Vlahović.

His rating is (9.8) with 2 goals, 26 passes (69% accurate) and 2 key passes. He was won 9 duels out of 16. He performed 1 cross. He hit the woodwork once times.

Azerbaijan – Formation

Also Azerbaijan adopted the 3-4-1-2 line-up (3-4-1-2).

On the opposite side, Giovanni De Biasi played with: Shahrudin Mahammadaliyev (8.0), Maksim Medvedev (6.2), Hojjat Haghverdi (6.4), Anton Krivotsyuk (6.2), Abbas Hüseynov (6.1), Emin Makhmudov (7.3), Qara Qarayev (6.6), Azer Salahli (6.4), Filip Ozobić (6.2), Renat Dadaşov (6.8) and Araz Abdullayev (7.7).

They had on the bench: Namiq Alasgarov (5.9), Murad Khachayev, Ramil Sheydaev (6.3), Tellur Mutallimov (6.8), Bakhtiyar Hasanalizade, Mert Çelik, Anatoli Nuriev (6.8), Toral Bayramov, Aydin Bayramov, Vugar Mustafayev (6.7), Emil Balayev and Rahim Sadikhov.

Substitutions

Azerbaijan made 5 changes: A. Huseynov for T. Mutallimov (63′), R. Dadashov for R. Sheydaev (73′), A. Abdullayev for A. Nuriev (73′), F. Ozobic for N. Alasgarov (73′) and E. Makhmudov for V. Mustafayev (84′).

Best player: Shahrudin Mahammadaliyev​

The player that probably impressed the most for Azerbaijan was the goalkeeper: Shahrudin Mahammadaliyev. His rating is 8.03. He performed 8 saves.

Results of the day

These are the results of the day in the WC Qualification Europe.​

• Kazakhstan – Finland – 0-2
• Portugal – Luxembourg – 5-0
• Serbia – Azerbaijan – 3-1
• Bulgaria – Northern Ireland – 2-1
• Lithuania – Switzerland – 0-4
• Kosovo – Georgia – 1-2
• Sweden – Greece – 2-0
• Denmark – Austria – 1-0
• Faroe Islands – Scotland – 0-1
• Israel – Moldova – 2-1
• Albania – Poland – 0-1
• England – Hungary – 1-1