Cameroon fight back for point against Serbia in six-goal thriller

Mueez Ajao

– Cameroon kept their hopes of reaching the World Cup last 16 alive as they battled back from two goals down to draw a six-goal thriller with Serbia in Group G.

– Cameroon took the lead through Jean-Charles Castelletto but Strahinja Pavlovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic replied to give Serbia a half-time advantage.

– Aleksandar Mitrovic added a third for Serbia and they looked to be cruising to a win that would have put them in a strong position to progress from the group.

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– However the Indomitable Lions roared back thanks to Vincent Aboubakar’s superb lob and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting’s equaliser three minutes later.

– Mitrovic had a chance to regain the lead for his side but the Fulham striker curled a shot wide in the closing moments after being teed up by Dusan Tadic.

– Both sides lost their opening match so this result leaves them two points adrift of Brazil and Switzerland, who meet later on Monday (16:00 GMT).

– In arguably the tournament’s most entertaining game so far, Serbia started brightly and Mitrovic twice went close to giving his side the lead.

– He hit the post before flashing a shot wide after the ball fell kindly to him in the box as Serbia made all the early running.

– However Cameroon took the lead against the run of play when Nicolas N’Koulou flicked on a corner and Castelletto tapped his first international goal home from close range.

– Serbia did not panic, though, and turned the game on its head in first-half stoppage time.

– Pavlovic headed Serbia’s first World Cup goal in 335 minutes of play before Milinkovic-Savic beat Cameroon keeper Devis Epassy, who was playing after Andre Onana was dropped for disciplinary reasons, with a low drive.

– When Mitrovic finished off a brilliant Serbia passing move to give them a two-goal cushion, Dragan Stojkovic’s side looked to be heading for a comfortable victory.

– However, substitute Aboubakar gave Cameroon hope when he raced clear and, perhaps thinking he was offside, cut inside past a defender and casually scooped the ball over Vanja Milinkovic-Savic for one of the tournament’s best goals.

– Three minutes later the striker again beat the offside trap but this time squared the ball for ex-Stoke City striker Choupo-Moting to level from close range.

– While Cameroon looked dangerous when they pushed for a winner, it was Mitrovic who had the best chance to snatch the victory, but he curled wide as Serbia were left to rue their inability to close out the match.

– A defeat would have left Cameroon relying on Switzerland to beat Brazil in order to avoid elimination with a match to spare.

– Instead Rigobert Song’s side retain hope of getting out of the group stage for the first time since 1990, albeit their final game will be a difficult match against Brazil.