Soccer-Kolarov inspires Serbia to 6-1 rout of Wales

NOVI SAD, Serbia, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Serbia gave their new

coach Sinisa Mihajlovic his first taste of success as left back

Aleksandar Kolarov inspired an impressive 6-1 home rout of Wales

in a World Cup Group A qualifier on Tuesday.

The victory left Serbia on four points from two games after

Saturday's goalless stalemate in Scotland, which came on the

back of three defeats and a draw in friendlies.

Having come under fire for tepid performances which produced

only one goal in five games, Mihajlovic reshuffled his youthful

team and the tactic paid dividends in Vojvodina Novi Sad's

acoustic Karadjordje stadium in front of a capacity 15,000

crowd.

Kolarov fired the home side ahead when he curled a

delightful free kick from 18 metres over the wall past

the despairing dive of Wales keeper Glyn Myhill in the 16th

minute.

The Manchester City player turned provider eight minutes

later after muscling his way past two defenders to the touchline

and squaring the ball for Serbia captain Zoran Tosic to steer it

home from close range.

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Gareth Bale, who started on the

right flank but quickly switched to the more familiar left, gave

a colourful band of 500 Welsh fans something to cheer about when

he halved Serbia's lead with a brilliant free kick.

His stinging and swerving shot from 25 metres left Serbia

keeper Vladimir Stojkovic rooted to his line as it almost ripped

the netting in his top right corner, but Welsh joy was

short-lived as Serbia quickly restored their two-goal advantage.

A pair of 20-year olds carved the visitors open with a slick

move as winger Dusan Tadic released Filip Djuricic with a lovely

through ball and the striker buried his shot into the roof of

the net after rounding Adam Matthews.

Serbia continued to have the upper hand after the break and

their incessant attacks soon bore fruit as Chelsea defender

Branislav Ivanovic raced down the right flank and delivered a

perfect low cross for Tadic who swept the ball past Myhill.

Ivanovic capped his own outstanding performance in the 80th

minute with a rasping low shot from the edge of the box with his

weaker left foot to delight the home fans who sang incessantly

to the beats of a giant drum.

Substitute Miralem Sulejmani, making his first appearance

after recovering from a long-term injury, put the icing on the

cake in the 90th minute with a deflected effort from 20 metres

which caught Myhill stranded.

Serbia's next two games are at home to Belgium on Oct. 12

and away to Macedonia four days later. Wales are at home to

Scotland before they visit Croatia.