Serbia 2-1 Northern Ireland: Pantelic & Tosic complete second-half revival in behind-closed-doors clash

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Serbia completed a second-half comeback after Marko Pantelic and Zoran Tosic cancelled out Gareth McAuley’s first-half header to secure a valuable victory over Northern Ireland in their Group C Euro 2012 qualifier.

In a game where atmosphere was lacking due to Serbian supporters serving a stadium ban for throwing missiles onto the pitch during their qualifying match against Italy, 265 Northern Ireland fans were given the chance to air their voice after watching their side take an unexpected lead before the interval.

But Nigel Worthington’s men collapsed in the second half, allowing the hosts to capitalise on their possession and ultimately secure three points which leaves Northern Ireland needing a positive result against Slovenia on Tuesday.

The visitors started very well and in the opening ten minutes they had more than their share of possession against a technically superior side.

Set pieces had been a talking point before the game and Northern Ireland used this effectively early on as Sammy Clingan curled a free-kick into the box leaving Zeljko Brkic flapping at his claim.

But Serbia began to dictate the game and Branislav Ivanovic spurned the first opportunity to put the hosts ahead from a corner.

Serbia almost scored again five minutes later when, on a break down the right Zoran Tosic crossed to Adem Ljajic in the centre but the midfielder’s effort was blocked by Aaron Hughes.

The cracks were showing in the Northern Ireland defence but in a game that had been somewhat devoid of goalmouth action, the visitors opened the scoring with a goal which came against the run of play.

From a free kick 30 yards from goal, Chris Brunt clipped the ball in and McAuley’s looping header from just inside the penalty area evaded Brkic and found the top left corner to score Northern Ireland’s first first-half goal in two years.

Brunt had the opportunity to extend Northern Ireland’s lead after half-time but the West Brom man’s effort inside the area was blocked from close range by Neven Subotic.

Debutant Lee Camp had enjoyed a quiet evening on his first appearance for Northern Ireland, but when Serbia won a corner in the 53^rd minute, Ivanovic’s close-range header saw the goalkeeper pull off a fantastic reaction save to keep the visitors in front.

But pressure finally paid for the hosts and Serbia took the lead. Milan Jovanovic, who had come on as a half-time substitute, was allowed to cross from the left to Pantelic and the striker was allowed far too much room which allowed his tame shot to creep past Camp.

Worthington’s side continued to struggled with the Serbian attack and Tosic added a second nine minutes later to seal the win for the hosts. After a neat piece of build-up play, the former Manchester United winger found space and drilled his effort high into the corner past Camp.

Chances became rare for both sides in the latter stages and Worthington’s men now face a crucial match against Slovenia on Tuesday, where only a win can salvage their qualifying campaign.