Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham continued his fine form for both club and country as he scored the only goal in Gelsenkirchen to give England a much needed opening game win against Serbia at the Euro 2024.
Both teams clashed in a crucial Group C tie as EURO 2020 runners-up, England were keen on starting the tournament on the right foot and an early header by the Real Madrid star was enough to secure a narrow Group C victory at the Arena AufSchalke and send the Three Lions top of the table.
The star-studded English team began on a bright note very early in the game, seeing much of the ball against a Serbian side that preferred to defend, having their players behind the ball quite often; a strategy that came back to bite them within 13 minutes of play. Bellingham picked up the ball in midfield and found Manchester city’s Kyle Walker on the far side. A perfectly-weighted Kyle Walker pass set up Bukayo Saka for a cross from the right that deflected off the sliding Strahinja Pavlović and looped up perfectly for Bellingham, who had made a dashing run into the opponent’s box, to thump a header past Serbian goalkeeper, Predrag Rajković.
The goal seemed to kick Serbia back to life as they almost provided an immediate response as Aleksandar Mitrović fired narrowly wide and Dušan Vlahović also had a shot blocked. At the other end, England also looked to double their lead with Saka proving a thorn in the opposition flesh, releasing Walker for a burst into the area that ended in a cross-shot across the face of goal.
Although England had looked in control, Serbia had shown enough to suggest they continued to carry a threat, and early in the second half substitute Filip Mladenović was close to providing the finishing touch to Vlahović’s low driven cross. Meanwhile, Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold found himself in a good shooting position but was only able to sting the palms of Rajković’s with his shot. England then had to be alert to prevent a Mitrović equalizer as Jordan Pickford and Kieran Trippier combined to thwart the Serbian striker’s effort.
Serbia’s replacements had reinvigorated the team and Dušan Tadić so nearly played in Luka Jović, but it was England who were closest to a second goal, Rajković palming a Harry Kane header against the crossbar. Pickford did have to push Vlahović’s shot over in the closing stages, but that was as close as Serbia came to an equaliser.
Speaking after the victory, Bellingham acknowledged how difficult the game was for the team:
“The first half shows why we can score goals against any team, and the second half shows we can keep a clean sheet against any team. We had to suffer a bit but we kept a clean sheet and when you do that, you only need to score one goal to win the game. Overall, we’ll be happy with that performance,” he said.
