Cristiano Ronaldo was controversially denied an injury-time winner as Portugal blew a two-goal lead to be held by Serbia in World Cup qualifying on Saturday, while Romelu Lukaku’s 59th international goal was only enough to salvage Belgium a 1-1 draw with the Czech Republic.
The Netherlands saw off Latvia 2-0 after its opening Group G defeat by Turkey, which backed up that performance with an impressive 3-0 victory over Norway.
Portugal appeared to be cruising to three points in Belgrade when leading 2-0 at the interval through Liverpool winger Diogo Jota’s first-half double.
Crucial performance
Nemanja Radonjic’s half-time introduction proved crucial for Serbia, though, as he set up Aleksandar Mitrovic and Filip Kostic to net in the first 15 minutes of the second period.
Portugal had to settle for a 2-2 draw, with Ronaldo left seven short of Iranian Ali Daei’s all-time record of 109 international goals after failing to score for a second straight match.
He appeared to have netted in the 93rd minute, but without VAR or goalline technology in use, officials decided that Serbia defender Stefan Mitrovic had cleared the ball before it crossed the line.
Belgium, the world number one-ranked side, sits behind the Czech Republic on goal difference in the early Group E standings.
Something to cheer
Frank de Boer’s Netherlands gave the 5,000 fans allowed to attend at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam something to cheer as Steven Berghuis’s 32nd-minute curling effort and Luuk de Jong’s second-half header saw off Latvia.
Fenerbahce midfielder Ozan Tufan scored twice as Turkey beat a dangerous Norway side.
The results: Group A: Serbia 2 (A. Mitrovic 46, Kostic 60) drew with Portugal 2 (Diogo Jota 11, 36); Republic of Ireland 0 lost to Luxembourg 1 (Rodrigues 85).
Group E: Czech Republic 1 (Provod 50) drew with Belgium 1 (Lukaku 60); Belarus 4 (Lisakovich 45-pen, 83, Kendysh 64, Savitski 81) bt Estonia 2 (Henri Anier 31, 55).
Group G: the Netherlands 2 (Berghuis 32, L. de Jong 69) bt Latvia 0; Norway 0 lost to Turkey 3 (Ozan Tufan 4, 59, Caglar Soyuncu 28); Montenegro 4 (Beciraj 25, Simic 43, Tomasevic 53, Jovetic 80) bt Gibraltar 1 (Styche 30-pen).
Group H: Slovakia 2 (Strelec 49, Skriniar 53) drew with Malta 2 (Gambin 16, Satariano 20); Croatia 1 (Pasalic 40) bt Cyprus 0; Russia 2 (Dzyuba 26, 35) bt Slovenia 1 (Ilicic 36).
