At last, after what seems quite a long wait, England's Euro competition finally gets underway.  Did it go the way most of us thought it would?  Well no, not quite, mainly because Serbia were a tough nut to crack, and by tough, I mean tough.  But the good news is we managed to score the only goal of the game and so we are on our way.

At the start there was some very good probing play by England, stretching the Serbians using the wide men well and although not creating too much initially, the chances did eventually start to arrive.  After five minutes a long ball out to Kieran Trippier was nodded back into the path of Phil Foden, but all he could manage was a scuffed left-footer wide of the far post.  England had a great deal of possession in that opening 10 or 12 minutes but there were no other chances to report.  Meanwhile Serbia were adjusting themselves to the England system but making little attacking headway.

Then suddenly, right out of the blue really, England took the lead with a fine goal.  Kyle Walker fed Bukayo Saka who danced round his marker wide on the right before sending over a terrific cross into the danger area.  It was a very inviting cross and who should come from nowhere to power home an unstoppable header was England's star man, Jude Bellingham.  The England fans were in raptures and goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic never had a prayer with that one!  By the way, you will get used to all the 'itches' in this report because 15 of the 16 Serbian players used, had names ending in 'ic'.

On 19 minutes Trent Alexander-Arnold fired a shot wide, and as we all hoped and expected a second goal, alarm bells sounded as the same player made a sloppy error in defence and the ball ran for Aleksander Mitrovic, a regular goalscorer in the English Premier League over the years, to fire in a dangerous shot.  It beat Jordan Pickford but went wide of the goal.  Two minutes later a Serbian free-kick was deflected wide by Declan Rice, but then a fine break by England so nearly made it 2-0.  Saka sent Walker clear on the right and the full-back used his pace to bear down on goal.  He seemed certain to score, but instead his weak shot went across goal and wide of the far post.  That was a golden chance and Walker should have at least hit the target.

England continued to have the better of things, and some of the fierce challenges by the Serbians on Bellingham and Saka especially, showed how rattled they were.  A second goal was crucial at this stage of the match.  A pass from Bellingham sent Saka clear of his marker, but unfortunately the cross was behind Foden who had moved towards the near post.  Another chance was lost and just before the interval a cross from the Serbian winger was bundled behind for a corner by John Stones.  The half ended with England having had the bulk of possession, created most of the best chances, but still the score was just the single goal ahead.  All to play for after the break.

It was soon noticeable after the restart that Serbia came out determined to assert themselves on the game.  As a result, the tackles grew fiercer, with Foden, Saka and Bellingham all being targeted for rough treatment.  Worryingly, the England players were finding it hard to respond and get forward as Serbia increased the pressure.  Stones and especially young Marc Guehi, remained calm though, and well backed up by the two full-backs.  On 56 minutes Alexander-Arnold tried a shot from range and the goalkeeper elected to punch clear a shot straight at him, and then Bellingham went down under a challenge just as he was about to shoot.  At the other end there was a big scramble in the England box as Serbia attacked down the left, but a combination of Pickford and Guehi saw off the danger.

There was another scare for England as substitute Dusan Tadic set up Luka Jovic, another sub, but his first touch was missing and England cleared.  Conor Gallagher was sent on to replace Alexander-Arnold, and Pickford had to punch clear from another Serbian attack.  At this point of the match it was a hard watch for us England fans, and it was worrying to see how England seemed to be settling for what they had.  But then, on 75 minutes, Jarrod Bowen came on for the battered Saka, and so nearly made a goal with his first touch.  An exchange of passes and a fine cross to the far post was met by the head of Harry Kane, who thus far had been kept very subdued.  The header was goalbound, but a fabulous save by Raykovic tipped the ball onto the crossbar and the defence then cleared the ball away.  That would have sealed the result, but Serbia refused to give up and they again dominated the last 15 or so minutes.

On 82 minutes it was Pickford's turn to make a vital save, by tipping over the bar a good shot by Dusan Vlahovic.  Ironically, from the corner, it was Kane who headed the ball off the line when another goal effort was put in.  Four added minutes had to be endured before the welcome sound of the referee's final whistle brought huge sighs of relief from the visiting England supporters….and me!

There was some good and some not so good things about England's performance on the night.  Guehi was outstanding, Rice did his job and Bellingham was the man of the moment.  Listening to all the pundits and after-match comments, not one person mentioned how out-muscled we were in that second-half, and that for me is a worry. 

Lots to do before we take on Denmark in the next instalment.  Can't wait!
  

Source Notes