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Republic of Ireland national football team
International Friendlies
Mar 5, 2014 at 7.45pm UK
 
Serbia national football team

1-2

Long (8')
FT(HT: 1-0)
McCarthy (48' og.), Djordjevic (60')

Serbia stage comeback win against Republic of Ireland

Serbia score twice in the second half to stage a 2-1 comeback victory over the Republic of Ireland in Dublin.

Serbia have come from a goal down to defeat the Republic of Ireland 2-1 in their friendly international at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Serbia players celebrate their first goal during the international friendly football match between the Republic of Ireland and Serbia at Aviva Stadium in Dublin on March 5, 2014© Getty Images

The hosts put the ball in the net as early as the second minute when Aiden McGeady volleyed home Glenn Whelan's left-wing cross, but it was chalked off because Wesley Hoolahan appeared to have got a touch on the ball when he was in an offside position.

However, six minutes later Shane Long made it 1-0 to Ireland by intercepting a Branislav Ivanovic back-pass and firing in with ease.

Republic of Ireland's Shane Long celebrates with his teammates after scoring the opening goal of the international friendly football match between the Republic of Ireland and Serbia at Aviva Stadium in Dublin on March 5, 2014© Getty Images

Serbia, though, could have equalised minutes later had David Forde not been able to keep out Milan Bisevac's header from an Aleksandar Kolarov corner.

The visitors had another good opportunity to restore parity through Lazar Markovic, before James McClean cleared Ivanovic's header off the line.

Long could have punished Serbia for failing to take their chances when he found himself in a good position on the half-hour mark, but his shot was comfortably saved by Vladimir Stojkovic.

Serbia stepped up their game after the interval and restored parity just three minutes into the second half.

Kolarov burst forward and exchanged passes with Dusan Tadic before sliding the ball across the box, and James McCarthy diverted it into his own goal while trying to clear it away.

Hoolahan set up Long with a good chance to regain Ireland's lead minutes later, but the Hull City striker failed to keep his chip on target.

That missed opportunity came back to haunt the home side, as Serbia surged ahead on the hour mark through Filip Djordjevic, who slotted home from close range after collecting a loose ball.

Second-half substitute David Meyler could have made an immediate impact for Ireland when he rose to connect with McGeady's corner, but his header went wide.

Ljubinko Drulovic's side dominated the rest of the match in Dublin and saw out the victory.

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Subhankar Mondal
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Shane Long of Ireland celebrates scoring a goal during the International Friendly match between Republic of Ireland and Latvia at Aviva Stadium on November 15, 2013
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