FIFA World Cup 2022: Brazil vs Serbia Highlights: Richarlison brace earns Brazil 2-0 win

Brazil
were
by
far
the
better
side
in
the
match
as
they
dominated
every
sector
of
the
pitch.
The
win
means
they
are
level
on
points
with
their
Group
G
rivals
Switzerland,
who
earlier
won
against
Cameroon.

As
it
Happened:

Brazil,
who
haven’t
lost
a
World
Cup
group
stage
match
this
century,
started
the
brighter
of
the
two
sides.
Vinicius
Junior
and
Richarlison
created
chances
while
Neymar’s
direct
corner
strike
was
just
kept
out
by
Vanja
Milinkovic-Savic
at
the
Serbia
goal.
Vinicius
Junior
and
Raphinha
had
chances
to
put
the
Canaries
ahead,
but
the
Serbian
keeper
came
to
the
aid
of
his
team
on
multiple
occasions.
Brazil
were
by
far
the
superior
team,
creating
numerous
chances
but
failed
to
break
the
deadlock
as
both
teams
entered
the
break
with
a
blank.

It
was
an
equally
blistering
start
from
Brazil
after
the
break
but
the
Serbian
defense
rebuffed
them
every
time.
Raphinha,
Richarlison
all
were
denied
scoring
opportunities
by
some
resilient
defending.
Alex
Sandro
came
close
to
giving
his
team
the
lead
but
was
denied
by
the
post.
The
elusive
goal
for
Brazil
came
in
the
62nd
minute
when
Richarlison
scored
from
the
rebound
of
Vinicius
Junior’s
shot,
initially
saved
by
Vanja.

It
was
Richarlison
again
12
minutes
later
to
extend
Brazil’s
lead
with
an
acrobatic
finish.
The
Spurs
striker
finished
it
off
with
a
magnificent
overhead
kick
past
Vanja
to
double
the
lead
for
the
Selecao.
Moments
later,
Casemiro’s
strike
rattled
the
bar
as
Brazil
came
agonisingly
close
to
a
third.

It
ended
at
2-0
for
Brazil
as
the
Selecao
made
a
winning
start
to
their
campaign.

Brazil
vs
Serbia
Lineup:

Brazil:
Alisson;
Danilo,
Marquinhos,
Thiago
Silva,
Sandro;
Paquetá
(Fred),
Casemiro,
Raphinha
(Martinelli),
Neymar
(Antony),
Vinicius
Jr.
(Rodrygo);
Richarlison
(Gabriel
Jesus)

Serbia:
Vanja;
Veljkovic,
Milenkovic,
Pavlovic;
Zivkovic
(Radonjic),
Lukic
(Lazovic),
Gudelj
(Ilic),
Mladenovic
(Vlahovic),
Milinkovic-Savic,
Tadic;
Mitrovic
(Maksimovic)

Aftermath:

With
the
win,
the
Canaries
move
to
the
top
of
Group
G,
same
number
of
points
with
Switzerland
but
with
a
superior
goal
difference.
Brazil’s
next
game
is
against
Switzerland
on
28th
November
while
Serbia
will
take
on
Cameroon
earlier
on
the
same
day.

Key
Stats:

• Richarlison
  scored
  2
  goals
  from
  3
  touches
  in
  the
  Serbian
  penalty
  box.
  It
  was
  his
  9th
  goal
  in
  his
  last
  7
  games
  for
  Brazil.
• Brazil
  have
  topped
  their
  group
  in
  every
  World
  Cup
  since
  1982.
  They
  are
  also
  unbeaten
  in
  their
  last
  20
  World
  Cups
  opening
  games.
  They
  lost
  their
  opening
  games
  in
  1930
  and
  1934.
• Neymar
  was
  fouled
  9
  times
  in
  the
  match,
  no
  other
  player
  in
  this
  World
  Cup
  has
  been
  fouled
  more
  than
  5
  times.
• Nikola
  Milenkovic
  of
  Serbia
  won
  the
  most
  number
  of
  tackles
  with
  5.
  He
  also
  made
  43
  accurate
  passes
  and
  made
  3
  interceptions
  and
  3
  clearances.
• Vinicius
  Junior
  took
  4
  shots
  in
  the
  match,
  most
  by
  a
  player
  but
  failed
  to
  convert
  those
  into
  a
  goal.