Argentina 2-0 Serbia
Argentina topped Group A of their Olympic Group with a perfect record after easing past Serbia 2-0 with goals from Ezequiel Lavezzi and Diego Buonanotte...
First Half
Los Albicelestes started the better of the two sides, and piled heavy pressure on the Serbian goal early on as they looked to score an immediate goal.
They went ahead in the 13th minute when Ezequiel Lavezzi fired in a penalty kick, as the Argentines took a well deserved lead.
Argentina, who rested several of their key players for the match, dominated proceedings against an extremely rough Serbia side, who resorted to hard tackling.
Sergio Batista's side could have doubled their lead minutes later, when Diego Buonanotte went on a brilliant solo run and found Lavezzi, but the Napoli strikers effort was well saved by Serbia goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic.
Five minutes before the break Espanyol defensive midfielder Pablo Zabaleta assisted Lavezzi with a brilliant ball, but his teammate saw his effort saved off the line by a Serbian defender.
Second Half
After the break Serbia, who desperately needed to win the three points, came more into the match. They pushed forward in numbers looking to level the score, but found little luck.
In the 54th minute the always alert Gojko Kacar saw his powerful long range drive tipped over the bar by Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero.
One minute later Argentina had a great opportunity to extend their lead, but Lavezzi shot wide after brilliant work from Angel Di Maria down the left flank.
By this moment of the match the Serbs looked extremely tired, but still tried to push forward, and left big gaps in the centre of their midfield. Argentina substitute Lautaro Acosta had a great opportunity to score, but shot incredibly wide when he was put through on goal.
In the 80th minute Argentina were awarded their second penalty of the night after a clumsy foul in the area.
Di Maria stepped up to the spot, but had his effort saved. But he was given an opportunity to redeem himself, as Stojkovic came off his line. However, Di Maria's second attempt was also saved.
But six minutes before full time River Plate starlet Buonanotte put the result out of Serbia's reach when he curled in a superb free-kick, that ended up giving the highly fancied Argentines a comfortable 2-0 victory.
Team Line-ups
Argentina (2): Sergio Romero, Pablo Zabaleta, Federico Fazio, Nicolas Pareja, Fernando Gago, Jose Sosa (Luciano Monzon 68'), Ever Banega, Javier Mascherano, Angel Di Maria, Ezequiel Lavezzi (Lautaro Acosta 73') and Diego Buonanotte.
Serbia (0): Vladimir Stojkovic, Marko Jovanovic (Nenad Tomovic 43'), Ljubomir Fejsa, Aleksandar Kolarov, Gojko Kacar, Slobodan Rajkovic, Dusko Tosic, Zivkovic Aleksandar (Nikola Gulan 68'), Milan Smiljanic, Zoran Tosic (Dusan Tadic 85' and Miljan Mrdakovic.
Goals: Ezequiel Lavezzi (13') and Diego Buonanotte (84')
Red Card: Dusko Tosic (90')
Referee: Adbullah Mohamed Al Hilali
Venue: Beijing Workers' Stadium. Att: 53,668
Two goals from Lavezzi and Rende gave Argentina a 3-0 record in Group A standings after beating Serbia in today’s match.
13′ 1-0 E. Lavezzi
84′ 2-0 D.M.B. Rende
13′ 1-0 E. Lavezzi
84′ 2-0 D.M.B. Rende
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