Soccer-Milijas penalty gives Serbia 1-0 win over Austria

By Zoran Milosavljevic

BELGRADE, June 6 (Reuters) - Serbia stayed firmly on course to reach the 2010 World Cup in South Africa after an early Nenad Milijas penalty gave them a 1-0 home win over Austria in their Group Seven qualifier on Saturday.

The midfielder steered his spot kick past Austria goalkeeper Michael Gspurning, who had brought down Marko Pantelic after giving away the ball with a poor clearance from a back-pass.

The result left Serbia top of the group with 15 points from six matches, five more than France who have a game in hand.

Third-placed Lithuania, who have nine points from seven games, lost ground after a 1-0 home defeat by Romania, who are level on seven points with Austria.

The group winners qualify for the finals directly while the best eight runners-up from the nine groups go through to a play-off.

The Serbians did just enough to earn their win but endured some nervy moments, as the Austrians made a lively start with Manuel Ortlechner shooting wide from a good position in the second minute.

But their early initiative ended abruptly in the seventh minute, with Gspurning causing a comedy of errors with his miskicked clearance that led to the penalty.

The 50,000 fans held their breath as Marc Janko missed Austria's best two chances to snatch an equaliser.