The hosts started brightly and had the first real opportunity of the game when Renārs Varslavāns broke free on the left, but his fierce shot was too close to Dorde Petrovic. However, despite the hosts’ positive start, it was Serbia who opened the scoring minutes later.
Dusan Vlahovic combined neatly with Aleksandar Katai on the edge of the box, and a swift one-two ended with the Juventus striker picking out the bottom corner to leave Krisjanis Zviedris with no chance.
The visitors continued to dominate and thought they had doubled the lead when Luka Jovic crashed a wonderful volley in off the underside of the bar, but the offside flag curtailed the celebrations and ensured the score remained 1-0 going into the break.
Paolo Nicolato responded with a triple change at the interval in an attempt to breathe some life into his side. It didn’t have an immediate impact, though, as the visitors looked threatening on the break. In fact, Zviedris had to make a reflex save with his feet to deny Ivan Ilic and keep the deficit to just one goal.
Latvia started to apply pressure going into the final 20 minutes as they sought an equaliser, and Varslavāns went close again when his powerful effort almost caught Petrovic out at his near post.
Nevertheless, Dragan Stojković’s side continued to carry a threat on the counter, and Vlahovic had the best chance to seal the points, but his shot was fired straight at Zviedris after a neat touch and turn.
Ultimately, Serbia held out for a win that sees them move back within touching distance of group leaders England, whom they trail by two points. In contrast, Latvia’s hopes of qualification now dangle by a thread as they now sit three points adrift of Serbia having played a game more.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Strahinja Pavlovic (Serbia)