He was anxious and… Holy in his premiere Euro the England!
His team Gareth Southgatewas quite threatened, especially in the second part, by the fighting Serbiabut the goal of the terrible Jude Bellingham at 13′ it was enough (1-0) to give her the victory and first place with the “good morning” in the third group. Great opportunity for the “three lions” in 77′ with Kane’s header that ended up on the post, after an intervention by Rajkovic.
Great performance by Filip Mladenovic of Panathinaikos, who came on as a substitute in the 43rd minute instead of Kostic and created many opportunities for the “plavi”. Basic o Andrija Zivkovic of PAOK, did not compete Nemanja Maksimovic.
The Denmark England will face the 2nd matchday (20/6), against Slovenia Serbia in a… Panathenaic “civil war” five football players.
The match:
With tremendous momentum and intensity in her game England was in control in the first minutes of the match, forcing her Serbia to change their first pass in the 6′.
His team Gareth Southgate tarnished its supremacy in goals in 13′. THE Satchel made the action from the right, crossed, the ball was countered and o Bellingham came as a ‘trailer’ with a header to open the scoring.
“Plavi” equalized in 20′ they almost equalized, when by his mistake Arnoldthe ball reached the Zivkoviche immediately passed to Mitrovic who shot hard, but sent it wide.
The minutes ticked by with England having the initiative of the movements and pressing on all the first passes of the Serbs. In one of them at 25′ Arnold, stole the ball, passed right to Walker who made the run, stepped into the area and crossed, but the ball went just wide of his right crossbar Raykovic.
The main feature of the first half was the intensitybut also the strength with which players went through the phases. In one of those, Kostic was injured, with Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic forced to make a substitution, bringing on Panathinaikos’ Filip Mladenovic in the final ‘snapshot’ of the first half.
Different approach from Dragan Stojkovic in the second half, with the Serbia coach replacing the static and ‘yellowed’ Gudely with Ilic.
This move made the Serbian team more compact, but also more mobile in the axis, which arrived with claims in Pickford’s area in the 53rd minute. From Pavlovic’s ball, the ball reached Vlahovic, who made a great save, entered the area, turned parallel, but the ball went past everyone and went away.
It took until 56′ for her to make her first final of the second half, with a powerful free kick from Arnold that was cleared by Rajkovic.
Mladenovic continued to create several cracks on England’s right wing and in the 59th minute after Ilic’s cross, he entered the area, turned to Vlachovic, Trippier made the “jazz” to the Serb, who was clean and able to help Pickford to block, before the Juventus forward becomes dangerous.
The pace of the match became frenetic after the corrective actions of the coaches and in the 77th minute England reached 2-0. Bowen, seconds after coming on, took the ball from the right and crossed, Kane headed in, with Rajkovic reacting instinctively to hit the crossbar.
It took five minutes for Serbia to respond and with many claims. In 82′, Vlahovic made an excellent control outside the area, shot, but Pickford, with a terrible intervention, cleared it for a corner.
This was also the last phase of the match with England getting the important “three points” that brought them to the top of the first group.
MVP: Jordan Pickford. He may not have had to intervene many times in some of Serbia’s few finals, but his 82nd-minute intervention on Vlahovic’s stunning shot was enough to give England the upper hand in Group Three.
The elevens of the match:
Serbia (Dragan Stojkovic): Rajkovic – Velikovic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic – Zivkovic (74′ Birbancevic), S. Milinkovic-Savic, Gudely (46′ Ilic), Lukic (60′ Jovic), Kostic (43′ Mladenovic) – Vlahovic, Mitrovic (60′ Tand itch)
England (Gareth Southgate): Pickford – Walker, Stones, Guehi, Trippier – Alexander-Arnold (69′ Gallagher), Rice, Saka (75′ Bowen), Bellingham (86′ Mainu), Foden – Kane
Source: Sport Fm
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
