and good evening on what is a perfect night for football the floodlights shining down on
the players as we speak i'm derrick ray in the commentary position and i'm joined for analysis
by stuart robson and very much looking forward to bringing you action from serbia stuart what are
you expecting to see well thanks derek the best coach i played under would always tell us before
kickoff earn the right to play if you can win your individual battles outrun your opponent eventually
you'll get the space to show your ability i'm sure that's being echoed by the coaches here
and today contest begins
so the initial 11 for the home side rui patricio begins in goal brian christante plays with jordan
vera ii in the center of midfield and operating through the middle and attack is tammy abraham
monopoly starting 11. david ospina begins in goal costas manolas plays alongside cali do coulee
bali and central defense matteo politano starts with lorenzo insignia in the wide
positions and rather than use a strike partnership they've gone with just the one player in attack
high quality defending
might be able to get in behind the defense timely intervention
a chance to run at them
into the center from mkhitaryan well cleared away
fabian victor ozimeh and they continue to advance and a lot of options here
fabian and a decent save full credit
who can he pick out and the keeper taking care of the situation
plenty of room in the wide area pellegrini
takes the shot and just over the bar really good effort
victor aussiehem
and a tidy challenge
nikki kalian this looks threatening just cutting off the supply
a very good tackle lorenzo insignia
elmas has it
can he put it away and with that they've thwarted the opportunity
so the corner played into the box now the keeper grabs it
well there we have it this has been a really poor game so far
the players need to pick up the tempo and be a lot braver with their passing and their movement
this can only get better and it goes the goal for one nil and that changes the dynamic
well let's do this again this is counter-attacking football at its very best and it ends up with
a fairly simple finish certainly not much the goalkeeper can do about that
get the game restarted can they come up with an appropriate response
that's wonderful attacking play can they square the game absolutely spot on with that challenge
nicolo zeniolo
and options in the center well the clearance half-hearted and blocked by [ __ ] barley
gives it a go another block
and he's fired over the corner did his job defensively
so the whistle then we're at the halfway stage in this match
a thoroughly dominant first half performance by henrikh mkhitaryan
he really was a joy to watch wasn't he stuart well it was certainly a good first 45 minutes
for the lad obviously he got his goal to put him in front but he's looked lively throughout too
hopefully we see more of him in the second half plenty to consider based on what we've seen
effective challenge
mario rui
lorenzo in senior
a chance to whip it in and the goal kick will be next
brian cristante
can they create something from here
he and there must finish a two-goal cushion now and they just need to keep the concentration
well let's take another look and wow how cleanly does he hit that
the keeper was never going to save it what a good goal that is
a second goal for them here
well as you can see the hosts have had much less of the ball but what they've done with
it has been really good and they'll be happy with the way the game is being played at the
moment they love to play on the counter attack and players waiting in the center
vina
had a two
chance to finish and that a piece of goalkeeping you're going to see again and again and again
who's going to get on the end of it penegrini
fantastic technique
well here's the replay and it's a really inviting ball played into the box
begging players to attack it and the finish is just as good that's an excellent goal
three goals without reply
on possibilities inside the box
maximum commitment and he's given away the corner
and over it comes it might be and a goal he's putting away a celebratory moment
well here you can see it again good run great strength and a composed finish
under pressure that's a top class goal
so there it is 3-1 the current score line here
there to intercept
zielinski just made sure nothing came of that and a goal they just keep believing
who's to say they can't do it now
well this is a very tidy finish as you can see he's under so much pressure
but his strength just allows him to hit through the ball cleanly it's an excellent goal
pass after pass happy to just keep possession and frustrate their opponents and giving the ball away
fabian napoli fighting against the clock and the scoreline but still they believe
well what an atmosphere we've got inside this stadium these
supporters are doing everything they can to get their team over the finish line
another good tackle
fabian the conditions look pretty good for the cancer attack will they profit from this situation
but nothing comes of it good defending it
the was board lets the fans know three minutes of stoppage time
brian tristante on the ball zaniolo great challenge he got nothing but ball
and there it is the final whistle and the fans will be leaving the
stadium with smiles on their faces well derek it was a tight game both sides had
their moments and chances but overall they just about shaded it a well-earned victory
i think it's accurate to say stuart but this man was the light bringer for his side
well i'm not concerned about him missing a few chances the main thing is
he kept on getting into the right areas and he scored a very good goal as well