How did the players fare in England’s 1-0 victory over Serbia?
ENGLAND (4-2-3-1):
7 Pickford: Didn’t have a lot to do for most of the night, but made a crucial late save from Vlahovic’s long-range effort
8 Walker: Always looked in control defensively and produced a brilliant slide-rule pass to help set up Bellingham’s winner
7 Stones: Dealt with everything Serbia were able to throw at him – tougher tests no doubt await
8 Guehi: His first game at a major tournament couldn’t have gone much better – made some excellent interceptions and used the ball well
7 Trippier: The switch of position to left-back wasn’t a problem – survived a late injury scare when he went down
7 Rice: Always seemed to be in the right place for England at the base of midfield – shut down Serbia’s attacks
6 Alexander-Arnold: Still feels like a bit of a square peg in a round hole at the heart of midfield, but looked okay alongside Rice
8 Saka: Caused a succession of problems down the England right in the first half and provided the cross for Bellingham’s goal
8 BELLINGHAM: Ran the game in the first half and settled things with his first-half header – has the potential to be the star of the tournament
6 Foden: Never really looks comfortable playing off the left-hand side – another England game where he didn’t really hit the heights, with Gordon putting his place under threat
7 Kane: Only touched the ball twice in the first half, but still would have finished with a goal had Rajkovic not pushed his header onto the bar
Subs:
6 Gallagher (for Alexander-Arnold, 69): Helped neuter the Serbian midfield in the closing stages of the game
Bowen (for Saka, 75)
Mainoo (for Bellingham, 86)
(not used): Ramsdale (gk), Henderson (gk), Dunk, Gomez, Konsa, Shaw, Eze, Wharton, Gordon, Palmer, Toney, Watkins.
SERBIA (3-4-1-2):
Rajkovic 6; Pavlovic 5, Milenkovic 5, Veljkovic 4; Kostic 4 (Mladenovic 43, 5), Gudelj 4 (Ilic 46, 5), Lukic 5 (Jovic 61, 5), Zivkovic 5 (Birmancevic 74); S Milinkovic-Savic 5; VLAHOVIC 6, Mitrovic 5 (Tadic 61, 5).
Subs (not used): Petrovic (gk), V Milinkovic-Savic (gk), Babic, Gacinovic, Maksimovic, Mijailovic, Petrovic, Ratkov, Samardzic, Spajic, Stojic.
Man Of The Match: JUDE BELLINGHAM – Showed why he is being tipped to be one of the stars of the tournament.
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