England wins but doesn’t convince, beating Stojkovic’s Serbia 1-0, securing the three points from the debut match but more was expected from the “whites”. In the first half we saw more of England with fast play, imagination and verticalisations. In the second half the Balkans played better with more density in midfield but with many errors in the last pass.
The news
The match broke the deadlock in the 13th minute by Bellingham with a header from a cross by Bukayo Saka. The first half did not feature any great scoring actions. The result remained in the balance even in the second half with many changes from the substitute bench in Ivan Ilic, Dusan Tadic and Luka Jovic who increased the attacking potential with the obvious aim of weakening the English resistance. Manager Gareth Southgate has strengthened the central lines and defense with the introduction of Gallagher, Bowen and Mainoo. With ten to go Harry Kane tries with a header on the crossbar from the Serbian goalkeeper. Vlahovic tried at the end but the English goalkeeper deflected his shot to the back.
Serbia tried again with shots from outside, but in all circumstances James Pickford was not surprised by keeping a clean sheet.
Scoreboard
Serbia-England 0-1
Serbia: Rajkovic; Veljkovic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic; Zivkovic (74′ Birmancevic), S. Milinkovic-Savic, Gudelj (46′ Ilic), Lukic (61′ Tadic), Kostic (44′ Mladenovic); Mitrovic (61′ Jovic), Vlahovic. Ct. Stojkovic
England: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Guehi, Trippier; Alexander-Arnold (69′ Gallagher), Rice, Bellingham (86′ Mainoo); Saka (76′ Bowen), Kane, Foden. Ct. Southgate
Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy)
Goal: 13′ Bellingham
