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.
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 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.
Credit: bbc.com
