Portugal went top of European Championship qualifying Group I with a 2-1 win over Serbia on Sunday . Defenders scored both Portuguese goals as Ricardo Carvalho and Fabio Coentrao netted in each half , either side of a spectacular equaliser from Nemanja Matic with an overhead kick . Portugal 's third straight win under Fernando Santos , who took charge after Cristiano Ronaldo 's team lost their opening qualifier against Albania , gave them nine points from four games . Ricardo Carvalho heads past Serbia goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic to open the scoring for Portugal . Carvalho is congratulated by his team-mates after scoring the opening goal for Portugal against Serbia . Cristiano Ronaldo takes on Chelsea and Serbia defender Branislav Ivanovic during the game in Lisbon . Portugal : Rui Patricio , Bosingwa , R Carvalho ( Fonte 17 ) , Alves , Eliseu , Moutinho , Tiago Mendes , Coentrao ( Quaresma 78 ) , Nani , Danny ( W Carvalho 86 ) , Ronaldo . Subs not used : Ventura , Eder , Gomes , Vieirinha , Lopes , Soares , Mario , Antunes , Almeida . Goals : Carvalho 10 , Coentrao 63 . Serbia : Stojkovic , Basta , Ivanovic , Nastasic , Kolarov , Petrovic , Matic , Markovic ( Djuricic 65 ) , Ljajic , Tadic , Mitrovic . Subs not used : Maksimovic , Lukac , Gudelj , Milivojevic , Tosic , Kostic , Tosic , Tomovic , Brkic , Skuletic , Obradovic . Goal : Matic 61 . Referee : Gianluca Rocchi . They are two points ahead of second-place Denmark , who have a game in hand , and Albania , who beat Armenia 2-1 in the day 's other Group I game . Serbia have one point from four games as they try to make up lost ground after being deducted three points for disturbances during a home qualifier against Albania last October . The top two from the nine groups qualify automatically for Euro 2016 . Carvalho , unmarked in the Serbian penalty area , headed in Danny 's cross after 10 minutes , putting Portugal on the road to victory despite a patchy performance . Portugal shifted down a gear after the goal and allowed openings for the Serbians , with Dusan Tadic shooting wide . Ronaldo had little influence on the game until he unleashed a powerful swerving shot on the half-hour which Vladimir Stojkovic just managed to push wide , and two minutes later the striker pierced the visitor 's defense with a run before he was closed down . Danny ( left ) and Thiago Mendes ( centre ) celebrate wildly after Portugal 's opening goal of the game . Real Madrid left-back Fabio Coentrao slots the ball past the keeper to restore Portugal 's lead in Lisbon . Real Madrid superstar Ronaldo ( right ) holds off the challenge of Liverpool 's Lazar Markovic . Portugal 's three points in Lisbon takes them top of Group I , ahead of Denmark and Albania . Portugal 's win over Serbia takes them top , while their opposition lag in fourth position in Group I. Matic levelled with a bicycle kick inside the Portuguese area , but two minutes later Coentrao was at the back post to tap in Joao Moutinho 's low cross from the right . Portugal coach Santos was barred from contact with players at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon as he served the first of a two-game ban for improper conduct at last year 's World Cup , where he led Greece . Nemanja Matic produced a spectacular overhead kick to level the scores , but only for two minutes . Bruno Alves ( right ) out-jumps Dusan Basta to head the ball during the European qualifying match in Portugal . Ronaldo drives forward during Portugal 's 2-1 win over Serbia in their European qualifier match on Sunday . Portuguese fans show their support to the team ahead of their match against Serbia at Luz stadium .
Ronaldo opened the scoring for Portugal with an early header . After half-time , Nemanja Matic produced a brilliant equaliser . Serbia were only level for two minutes , as Fabio Coentrao made it 2-1 . Portugal 's win takes them top of their European qualifying group .