Xherdan Shaqiri scored a late goal to help Switzerland complete an impressive second half comeback against Serbia in Kaliningrad.
It looked like being so very different when Aleksandar Mitrovic gave Serbia the lead early on, but as they continued to dominate with qualification for the World Cup knockout stages in sight, the Swiss restored parity through a Granit Xhaka thunderbolt before going on to win it.
Here are four talking points from a dramatic evening in Group E.
Switzerland struggled for intensity but they took their chances
Organisation is the name of the game for Switzerland; they are best when keeping their shape and play on the counter attack. Perhaps they were surprised by Serbia’s quick start, but they just couldn’t get their bearings from the off. By the time they settled down, they were behind, and it didn’t help that they lacked a real presence up front. While Mitrovic bullied Fabian Schar, the Deportivo la Coruña defender, with his sheer strength, not to mention goal threat, Switzerland couldn’t match him at the other end; Haris Seferovic was marshalled well by Fiorentina centre back Nikola Milenkovic in particular. He soon began to drop deep in frustration, reducing his impact on the game even further and was replaced by Mario Gavranovic at half time.
There simply wasn’t enough movement and penetration from the Swiss in midfield; they made it so easy for Serbia, who hunted the ball with impressive cohesion. Everything was far too predictable; Ricardo Rodriguez, their left-back and a major source of creativity, got forward regularly to support, but he wasn’t forcing the issue and getting the ball into the box quick enough. Shaqiri was frustratingly quiet once again, while Xhaka was struggling to keep possession. Once he drew the game level with a powerful strike from distance, which came from nothing and gave Vladimir Stojkovic no chance, the pattern soon changed. They finally got a chance on the break in the dying minutes, and Shaqiri grabbed it with both hands to win the game.
Aleksandar Mitrovic proves his worth to Serbia from an early stage
Yann Sommer kept eight clean sheets in qualification and looked solid enough against Brazil in Rostov last week, but his first involvement in the game was to pick the ball out of his net. Serbia started well, laying down a marker as to how they were going to play by aiming for Mitrovic with almost every ball forward. The Newcastle United striker came into the World Cup in great form after scoring 12 goals in a six month loan spell at Fulham last season, helping them to promotion to the Premier League. Rafa Benitez, Newcastle manager, is said to be keen to cash in on him this summer, and he took no time to add to the valuation on his head, opening the scoring in under five minutes.
Having missed some great chances during the victory over Costa Rica in Serbia’s first game, Mitrovic had a point to prove. Moments before he scored, he went close with a header, which served as a warning the opposition had no time to heed. Southampton’s Dusan Tadic was looking, and finding, him with every cross, so it wasn’t a surprise that their linkup reaped an early reward. Mitrovic was at the centre of everything and Schar was being given the runaround as Tadic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Filip Kostic swarmed him with every opportunity. The striker continued to threaten well into the second half and should have been given a penalty after being wrestled to the ground in the area.
The equaliser gave Switzerland much needed momentum
As soon as the equaliser went in, though, Switzerland found their rhythm and grew into the game; the momentum swung in an instant. Shaqiri, who had a shot blocked in the build up to Xhaka’s goal, was much more involved, and he almost grabbed a second goal earlier than he did, cutting in from the right and striking the outside of the post. The game had changed; Serbia had it all their own way early on, then Switzerland began to show why they were so impressive in qualification, with just one defeat in two years.
In the first half, Blerim Dzemaili was the main threat for the Swiss, going closest before the break when he forced Stojkovic into a good save from close range. Running at the heart of the Serbia defence, the Bologna midfielder was causing all sorts of problems, but as his side grew into the game, his impact dwindled and he was replaced by the talented Breel Embolo with just over 15 minutes remaining. Overall, Serbia made the biggest impression on the game, but Vladimir Petkovic’s side could argue they created the better chances and were therefore deserved winners.
Serbia are a powerful team capable of causing anybody problems so cannot be written off yet
Much like Croatia, who dismantled Argentina in Nizhny Novgorod on Thursday evening, Serbia are a team with a lot of quality across the pitch but carry no expectation of going to the very end of the tournament. Their spine is extremely powerful; Branislav Ivanovic, the former Chelsea turned Zenit Saint Petersburg defender, and Milenkovic, create a great base in defence, their midfield physicality, with Nemanja Matic, Luka Milivojevic and Milinkovic-Savic all over six foot, is the envy of Europe, and Kostic, Tadic and Aleksandar Kolarov give them great width, which allows them to get the ball into Mitrovic, their focal point, up front.
Adem Ljajic came off the bench to add more of a creative spark, too. Switzerland won the game, which sets up a blockbuster final two games in Group E next week, but Serbia looked good for long spells.
