Serbia 1-2 Greece: Duvikas Scores in 95th Minute at Marakana

In the 95th minute, the ball flew past Vanja Milinkovic-Savic and into the net, and Marakana, already half empty, fell completely silent. Kostas Cimikas swung in a cross from the left, Anastasios Duvikas, who had only entered the match in the 74th minute, rose above the Serbian defense and headed Greece into a 2-1 lead. Serbia had built a defense that held for the entire match, only to crack in the final, added minute.

The game had started very differently. As early as the fourth minute, Dusan Tadic, back in the national team, floated a beautiful lofted pass, and Andrija Zivkovic ran onto it from an angle and finished from a few meters out. Serbia led, the stands came alive for a moment, and Veljko Paunovic had shuffled his lineup before kickoff, starting Simic and Cvetkovic partly because Milenkovic and Mitrovic were missing through injury.

Why did Serbia give up the lead?

The answer is simple: from the ninth minute on, Greece played the better football and kept the ball for almost the entire match. Karecas had already hit the post that early, and moments later tried again from distance, only for Vanja Milinkovic-Savic to save it. Serbia had its own chance to settle the game, as Strahinja Pavlovic found Luka Jovic with a brilliant pass from around ten meters out in the first half, but the shot flew well wide.

Greece equalized in the 74th minute. Pavlidis found Hristos Colis, who, in typical fashion, coolly beat Milinkovic-Savic to make it 1-1. Serbia finally pushed forward after that, but in doing so opened space in behind, and Greece threatened on the counter as well.

The part of the match that hurts the most came right at the end. In the 90th minute, substitute Dejan Joveljic hit the post, and from the rebound Sasa Lukic tried a close-range header, but goalkeeper Colakis, who plays for Napoli, saved that attempt too. A point looked secured. Then the fifth minute of stoppage time arrived, and it all fell apart.

Paunovic brought on Lukic for Cvetkovic at the start of the second half, and in the 72nd minute Joveljic and Terzic replaced Jovic and Kostic. Gudelj came on for Simic in the 81st minute, and Sukacev replaced Tadic in the 87th. Kostic picked up a yellow card in the 63rd minute, and Terzic was booked immediately after coming on, in the 73rd.

What did the coach say?

Paunovic admitted after the match that Serbia had exposed itself to the counterattack in the final fifteen minutes.

“These chances we had toward the end of the match carried us forward, and we stayed too open and careless in the last line. These rotations we made gave us momentum. The player who scored was faster than our defense. The consequence was that we had good momentum at the end, in the last 10-15 minutes, and we all believed we could score. A counterattack happened, and in transition we needed to defend much better. Painful and instructive,” Paunovic told Arena Sport TV.

Asked what had gone well on the night, the coach pointed to the team’s fighting spirit, while also noting where the side lacked confidence in the final third.

“Togetherness and fighting spirit. The Greeks are very good with the ball and in the final third. But we were also good and efficient in the moments when we had the ball. We needed more of that, to be convinced and more confident when we carry the ball into the opponent’s half, so we don’t rush to finish our attacks.”

In the end, he said the defeat, however painful, must not derail the team ahead of the rest of the competition.

“We have to move on. In every respect. A big blow. Even a draw would have hurt, and a defeat is very hard to take. But we’re holding our heads up and getting ready for what’s next.”

Reports on the crowd were not unanimous. Telegraf described a half-empty stadium, while other previews before the match had expected around 15,000 spectators. Judging by what was visible from the pitch, the turnout looked even lower than that, although an official attendance figure was not released.

Serbia had gone into the match with bigger expectations. The preview piece “Serbia - Greece Tonight at Marakana, Paunovic Without Vlahovic” had set the stage, and now the team is left with its first point lost at the start of the new Nations League season. The Eagles remain without a win, in a group that also includes Germany and Greece, and an opening defeat means every point from here on out counts double.

The next test comes quickly. Serbia hosts the Netherlands at the same stadium on Sunday, September 27, after the Dutch opened with a 1-1 draw at home against Germany. After what was seen in the closing stages against Greece, the defense will need to hold for longer than 94 minutes, because a team like the Netherlands punishes every open lane, not just in stoppage time.