It was the night when Thomas Tuchel located the ignition point for his England tenure, when all of the grumbling that had followed him to Belgrade seemed to float away. The manager needed a result to allow his team to take control of this World Cup qualifying group and a performance, too, after the flatness of much of what had gone before.
Tuchel got both, his players a class apart from the first whistle, Serbia left to look dishevelled, their problems everywhere. It is a troubling moment for the country, anti-government protests gaining in intensity and there were chants against the ruling party here. The manager, Dragan Stojkovic, is under heavy fire and there was more heat for him. What for him after this?
Serbia offered next to nothing, they finished with 10 men after Nikola Milenkovic’s last-man hack on Harry Kane in the 72nd minute and the truth was that the scoreline could have been heavier. England’s game management cut through the sideshows; what a pleasure it was for the travelling fans to see only smoothness, zero worry lines.
The stars were Morgan Rogers and Noni Madueke, the former providing the moment of the match with his assist for the latter to make it 2-0. Rogers, who Tuchel had preferred to Eberechi Eze in the No 10 role, brought the X factor.
Kane scored first with his 74th international goal while the central defenders, Ezri Konsa and Marc Guéhi, both got their first at this level. Both were excellent, especially Guéhi. His one-on-one defending was taken from the door-bolted-shut school. There was even time for Marcus Rashford, on as a late substitute, to add a fifth from the penalty spot.
England’s 100% record in qualification under Tuchel endures; it is five wins out of five, with no goals conceded. What made this even sweeter was the assurance. Tuchel had radiated confidence in the build- up; his team walked the walk. The job to reach the finals looks done.
There was so much going on, beginning with how the announcement of Stojkovic’s name was whistled by the home fans; they do not like his support of the government. By half-time, those fans were calling for his head. The chant of “Serbia, Kosovo” was first audible in the seventh minute from the home seats, referencing Serbia’s refusal to recognise the latter’s independence.
There was somebody in the stands who repeatedly blew a whistle, impersonating the referee. Which was disorientating. And there was someone else who shone a laser in the eyes of the England players. The individual was ordered to desist in the 42nd minute by the person on the PA system. Serbia played this tie with 15% of the stadium closed after the bad behaviour of their supporters during the Andorra game in June. They can expect more fines, more sanctions.
England were well-grooved in possession, full of personality. Their moves clicked. They heeded Tuchel’s demands to move the ball quickly, to be a little more direct. The reality of this Serbia team is that only a handful of them are playing regularly for clubs in top-five European leagues. Local expectations had been low and England were in charge by the 36th minute.
Much had been made of how England would feel the famously long walk through the tunnel beforehand. It takes about 90 seconds and it is not just the graffiti on the curved roof and the presence of riot police that sets the scene. The banging noises from the fans above provides the most notorious of welcomes. The fervour, though, that greeted the kick-off did not last. England subdued the crowd quickly.
The second goal was the show-stopper. It was all about the skill and vision of Rogers and the cut and thrust of Madueke. Rogers saw the run of his teammate and, when Elliott Anderson fizzed a low pass up to him, his first-time flick added up to the most eye-catching of through-balls. Madueke turned on the afterburners to get away from his marker and the dinked finish was true.
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Kane’s opener was a precision header from Declan Rice’s outswinging corner and it had been advertised. Rice shot at Djordje Petrovic early on after a nice move while the lively Anthony Gordon twice worked the goalkeeper. There was also the moment when Rogers turned sharply to release Madueke and he almost made something happen for Kane.
England maintained their focus after the interval. Serbia looked broken. Rice had dragged a shot off target , his shooting was an isolated blot , and the third followed a low Gordon blast, which Petrovic could only parry. Guéhi reacted to smuggle the ball across goal and if Kane could not quite get there, Konsa could.
It was the prompt for more anti-Stojkovic chants from the Serbia supporters and it was not long before they had some venomous anti-government rhetoric. Shortly afterwards, on 65 minutes, it threatened to turn nasty in the stands, a fight breaking out in a Serbia area and the riot police moving in to restore order. To repeat: a lot going on.
Milenkovic had to go for his lunge at Kane and the closing stages saw Tuchel get Djed Spence on for his debut, Guéhi convert from a Rice free-kick as the Serbia defence switched off and Rashford score after Strahinja Erakovic had upended another substitute, Ollie Watkins. Tuchel has talked a good deal about wanting to transfer the good things that he sees on the training pitch into matches. This was the breakthrough.
