Estonia beats Serbia 3-1 in Euro qualifying

By foxsports
Published

Estonia scored three goals in the last 30 minutes Friday to rally for a surprising 3-1 win over Serbia 3-1 in a European Championship qualifier.

Serbia took the lead in the 60th minute with Zdavko Kuzmanovic picking up a rebound from a corner kick, and shooting from the edge of the penalty area. The low ball deflected off Serbia forward Nikola Zigic into the net.

Estonia equalized three minutes later through a powerful shot by Sander Puri from 16 meters (yards) that went in under the bar past stunned Serbia goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic. Konstantin Vassiljev made it 2-1 in the 73rd as he slotted the ball home from the edge of the area.

Estonia sealed the victory with an own goal by Aleksandar Lukovic in the 90th.

Serbia has four points from three matches in Group C. Estonia has six in the group that also includes Italy, Northern Ireland, Slovenia and the Faeroe Islands.

''It happens,'' said Serbia coach Vladimir Petrovic after his first game at the helm of the national team. ''Next we play Italy and we'll have to do our best to redeem ourselves.''

Serbia played nervously, with its midfielders failing to create many chances.

The first opportunity for the hosts came in the 11th minute when defender Marko Lomic's free kick was parried by Estonia's goalkeeper Sergei Pareiko. In a follow-up, Pareiko made a diving save on a header by Nemanja Vidic from close range.

The Estonians relied on counterattacks, and Stojkovic - who was constantly booed by Red Star fans for recently joining crosstown rivals Partizan Belgrade - had to block a close-range shot by Sergei Zenjov in the 16th minute.

Patrovic made two changes at the start of the second half, with Zoran Tosic replacing striker Milan Jovanovic and Milos Ninkovic coming in for midfielder Gojko Kacar. The changes improved Serbia's play, with Tosic and Ninkovic missing the target with two good shots early in the second half.

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Lineups:

Serbia: Vladimir Stojkovic, Branislav Ivanovic, Nemanja Vidic, Aleksandar Lukovic, Marko Lomic, Dejan Stankovic, Zdravko Kuzmanovic (Danko Lazovic, 79), Gojko Kacar (Milos Ninkovic, 46), Milos Krasic, Milan Jovanovic (Zoran Tosic, 46), Nikola Zigic.

Estonia: Sergei Pareiko, Taavi Rahn, Raio Piiroja, Dmitri Kruglov, Aleksandr Dmitrijev, Sander Puri (Ats Purje, 70,) Tarmo Kink (Kaimar Saag, 64), Sergei Zenjov (Martin Vunk, 88), Konstantin Vassiljev, Ragnar Klavan, Enar Jaager.