England edged to a nervy 1-0 victory over Serbia in their opening game of Euro 2024, with Jude Bellingham heading in the winning goal.
The Real Madrid superstar inspired the Three Lions to victory but despite a dominant first-half the Eagles were superb in the second and caused Gareth Southgate far more problems than expected.
England’s starting line-up was as expected, with Trent Alexander-Arnold chosen to partner Declan Rice in midfield while Kieran Trippier filled in at left-back with Luke Shaw only fit enough for the bench.
Remarkably, this was the first time this particular XI had started together and it showed at times as though they dominated possession they struggled to create any chances early on.
Serbia manager Dragan Stojkovic surprised many by dropping creative captain Dusan Tadic in favour of a more rigid and defensively minded side and it worked brilliantly for the first 13 minutes.
At that point the game changed when Bukayo Saka beat his man on the right flank before whipping a cross into the centre of the box which was met by Bellingham’s bullet header.
The opening goal opened the match up but it was Serbia who had the next great chance with Aleksandar Mitrovic firing a powerful effort just wide of the post after being gifted the ball by Alexander-Arnold.
Kyle Walker looked certain to double England’s advantage after bursting into the box on the counter but he opted to tee up a teammate and his cross somehow didn’t find Harry Kane or Phil Foden.
If Southgate was hoping his side would press home their advantage early in the second-half he was in for a rude awakening, with the Eagles flying out of the trap after the break.
Dusan Vlahovic came close to setting up an equaliser but his pass just missed Filip Mladenovic and was cleared away by Trippier, and the opposition wanted a penalty minutes later after the Newcastle star muscled Mitrovic to the ground after some more great build-up play.
Substitutes Tadic and Luka Jovic nearly combined for a goal but the latter couldn’t sort his feet out to convert the former’s brilliant pass.
Actual chances were still few and far between however, with Alexander-Arnold’s effort from distance which was beaten away by Predrag Rajkovic one of England’s three shots on target.
Southgate turned to his bench to get things back on track and it nearly had an instant impact with Jarrod Bowen on for Saka whipping a perfect cross in for Kane only for his header to be brilliantly saved by Rajkovic onto the crossbar.
But it wasn’t long before Serbia reasserted control and Jordan Pickford was finally called into real action, tipping Vlahovic’s looping effort over the bar, before Walker headed a shot just off the goal line.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic fired an effort just over the bar as the Three Lions tired after an intense physical battle but thankfully it wasn’t to be for Serbia in the country’s first ever Euros game.
An unconvincing win but a win nonetheless with the three points moving England to the top of Group C after Denmark and Slovenia drew 1-1 in the other game earlier on Sunday.
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