Aboubakar inspires Cameroon rally in Serbia draw
Cameroon striker Vincent Aboubakar came off the bench to score one goal and set up another as the Indomitable Lions rescued a point in their 3-3 draw with Serbia on Monday that ended a run of eight successive World Cup losses for the African side.
The roller-coaster Group G fixture leaves both sides on a single point from their two games, still just in contention for a last-16 place, though Cameroon must face Brazil in their final match on Friday, while Serbia take on Switzerland.
Jean-Charles Castelletto gave Cameroon the lead just before the half-hour mark, but a quickfire double at the end of the first period from Strahinja Pavlovic and the hugely impressive Sergej Milinkovic-Savic swung the game in Serbia’s favour.
When Aleksandar Mitrovic added another early in the second period, his side looked in complete control and cruising to a win.
But Aboubakar, who topscored at the Africa Cup of Nations finals earlier this year, turned the game around when he came off the bench.
He netted a fine solo goal to reduce the deficit, before breaking forward and crossing to Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to smash in the equaliser three minutes later.
It was Serbia who had started the brighter, however. After Mitrovic had floated a header over the bar, he struck the post when his quick footwork created a chance from a tight angle.
He had another huge opportunity when Cameroon made a hash of clearing their lines and the ball fell to him eight yards out with the whole goal to aim at, but he fired wide.
Cameroon took the lead from a set-piece after Serbia had needlessly conceded a corner. Castelletto got on the end of Nicolas N’Koulou’s flick to tap home at the back post.
Serbia levelled in first-half injury-time via a goal that was also simple in its execution. Dusan Tadic floated a free-kick into the box and Pavlovic rose to direct the ball into the net.
They grabbed the lead two minutes later when the Cameroon defence allowed Milinkovic-Savic time to pick his spot from the edge of the box and steered the ball into the net.
The third for Serbia was a beautifully worked move started and finished by Mitrovic. He drove towards the Cameroon box and after a succession of passes inside the penalty area, the ball was squared by Andrija Zivkovic and the burly number nine had a simple tap-in.
That was the cue for Aboubakar to come off the bench. First he provided a perfect chip into the net for 3-2, then he beat the offside trap, raced clear and whipped over a low cross for Choupo-Moting to level the tie and keep Cameroon alive in the competition.