The hosts were looking to turn around a torrid calendar year to date against a Dutch side that had made a respectable start to life under Spanish icon Xavi, following a spirited 1-1 comeback draw against Germany three days previously.
With the Oranje sitting 31 places above Serbia in FIFA’s rankings, Xavi would have been quietly confident of leaving Belgrade with all three points. However, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic looked to rip up that particular script early on when his angled strike flew wide of the far post at the end of a swift counter-attack.
Afterwards, the Dutch began to assert themselves and eventually struck first from the penalty spot, after Aleksa Terzic was penalised for pushing down Crysencio Summerville in the box.
Meerdink made no mistake from 12 yards - despite Vanja Milinkovic-Savic guessing the right way - to score his first senior international goal.
Denzel Dumfries was then denied a second by Milinkovic-Savic in a solid opening 45 minutes for the visitors, marred only by Cody Gakpo’s enforced withdrawal due to injury.
Veljko Paunovic made a double change ahead of the second half, introducing Dusan Tadic and Luka Jovic. It was a move which almost immediately reaped dividends for the Orlovi, as the latter restored parity within a minute of the restart.
The Dutch failed to clear their lines after Bart Verbruggen twice thwarted Jovic and Filip Kostic in quick succession, and the former was on hand to fire home a left-footed finish.
Xavi’s side sought an immediate response, and Ruben van Bommel went inches away from reclaiming the Netherlands’ lead with a downward shot which clipped the post.
It was a chance engineered by Denzel Dumfries, as the Real Madrid full-back picked out Tijjani Reijnders moments later, but he blazed a right-footed strike high over the bar after ghosting into the box unmarked.
The Dutch wouldn’t have to wait too much longer to reclaim their lead, though, as Meerdink scored his second of the game by expertly taking Guus Til’s ball into his stride and dispatching a clinical left-footed effort past Milinkovic-Savic.
Paunovic’s men were on course for another defeat, but could not be accused of a lack of endeavour. They came agonisingly close to another equaliser when Jovic’s header from Tadic’s corner went a whisker wide of the far post, but ultimately ended the evening empty-handed.
This result ensures the hosts succumb to a fourth consecutive defeat across all competitions, while the Dutch continued their unbeaten start to this Nations League campaign and have not lost any of their previous 12 games on foreign soil in regulation time with this result (W7, D5).
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mexx Meerdink (Netherlands)
