Serbia surge ahead with win in Northern Ireland

Serbia pulled clear at the top of UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying Group 4 with a 2-0 win against Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland had just four points from their opening four fixtures but kept Serbia at bay for 80 minutes in Coleraine. Aleksandar Janković's team then moved up a gear to record their third in victory in the section thanks to substitute Saša Marković's opener and a Nemanja Gudelj penalty. Serbia are now three points clear of Denmark atop Group 4.

The visitors were in charge for long periods at the Showgrounds, home goalkeeper Conor Devlin called into action to keep out early headers from Matija Nastasić and Luka Milunović. Luka Milivojević spurned the best opening of the opening period, however, shooting over from ten metres.

The hosts came into the game after the interval, Josh Carson crashing a shot against the bar ten minutes into the second half after Connor McLaughlin had already been denied by Branimir Aleksić's point-blank stop.

Nemanja Kojić then went close for Serbia before Marković finally broke the deadlock with a cool finish. Gudelj added a second just three minutes later, sending Devlin the wrong way after Filip Djuričić had been felled by James Knowles.