Israel battle back to victory

Israel came from a goal down to make a winning start to their UEFA European Under-17 Championship Elite round campaign by defeating Serbia and Montenegro with a last-gasp penalty in the opening round of matches in Group 6.

Early setback
Avraham Bakar's side reached the final tournament last season, but made a slow start at Carlisle stadium in Dublin and fell behind midway through the first half as Slavko Perović gave the Serbo-Montenegrins the upper hand. That advantage proved to be short lived, however, as Dusan Brković's own goal cancelled out Perović's strike ten minutes later.

Sahar decisive
Neither side was able to make a breakthrough for the majority of the second period and it appeared that both would have to be satisfied with a point to open their campaigns. The match was finally settled two minutes into injury time, however, as Ben Sahar beat Marko Knežević from the penalty spot to give Israel three points. The two teams are next in action on Wednesday, as Israel face section hosts Republic of Ireland - 4-0 winners against Romania on Matchday 1 - while the Serbo-Montenegrins take on Romania.