Serbia and Republic of Ireland played out a 2-2 draw in their opening 2018 World Cup qualifier on Monday night.

Burnley recruit Jeff Hendrick opened the scoring for Martin O'Neill's side in just the third minute when he fired a left-footed effort from the edge of the area which bypassed Serbian keeper Predrag Rajkovic with a deflection.

Serbia responded on 62 minutes when the ball fell kindly for Hamburg's Filip Kostic who swept home before Southampton winger Duasn Tadic, who was involved in the equaliser, converted from the spot after Kostic had been brought down by Stoke City's Jon Walters.

However, Serbia's 2-1 lead was cut back with 10 minutes remaining when Newcastle United's Daryl Murphy came off the bench to head home Robbie Brady's outswinging corner for his first international goal.

The result sees each side take a point from their Group D opener ahead of next month's next set of fixtures on the road to Russia.