England’s record goalscorer proves he is still worth building this attack around, while Anthony Gordon, Noni Madueke and Morgan Rogers also impress
Serbia 0-5 England (Kane 33’, Madueke 35’, Konsa 52′, Guehi 75′, Rashford 90′ pen)
Pressure? What pressure? This time it was the England men’s team who silenced the growing number of doubters, swatting Serbia aside to take a giant leap towards qualification for next summer’s World Cup.
Deemed Thomas Tuchel’s biggest test to date – and potentially until the World Cup knockout stages, should they get there – England’s manager made four changes from Saturday’s sluggish why-are-we-even-here win over Andorra.
In came Morgan Rogers and Anthony Gordon in attack, with Marcus Rashford and Eberechi Eze making way, while Ezri Konsa and Tino Livramento started in defence ahead of Dan Burn and Myles Lewis-Skelly, the latter dropped from the matchday squad.
With points to prove, key players out – including Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham and Cole Palmer – and a World Cup XI far from set in stone, England looked up to the task and played with fluency early on.
Gordon was lively down the left, Reece James a threat on the right, but Serbia weathered the early pressure inside Belgrade’s Rajko Mitic Stadium.
Still, an open game was suiting England even if mistakes were creeping in, and once again it was Gordon playing with the most intent, taking players on and cutting inside before forcing Djordje Petrovic into a save.
And so began a flurry of chances for England, with Noni Madueke’s deflected shot just missing the boot of Harry Kane before Gordon again went close.
Then came the opening goal, with Kane losing his marker to head in from near the penalty area following Declan Rice’s corner. “I love this type of away game. They bring the best out of me,” Kane had said in the pre-match press conference, following his below-par showing against Andorra, and he was a man of his word on Tuesday night.
It was Kane’s 74th goal for England, and just three minutes later Madueke had his first, the Arsenal winger receiving Rogers’ smart flick-on before bearing down on goal and lifting the ball above Petrovic.
This devastating one-two was no more than England deserved, with Kane proving he is still worth building this attack around come the World Cup.
Quite who surrounds him though, arguably Tuchel’s task has just got tougher. Madueke, Rogers and Gordon all impressed, thriving in the spaces left by Serbia and the positions vacated by the injured Saka, Bellingham and Palmer.
“The movement from the front four and their confidence has been fantastic to watch,” Ian Wright said on ITV at half-time. Roy Keane: “They’ve been exciting, the attackers have turned up.”
A penny for the thoughts of Eze and Rashford, therefore, given they came up against a far more stubborn Andorran wall on Saturday – although Wright pointed out the desire from Rogers and Madueke to make something happen.
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After the break, Konsa made it three for his first England goal, the Aston Villa defender pouncing on a loose ball, before fellow centre-back Marc Guehi added a fourth.
Rashford then came on and scored a late penalty to compound a sorry night for Serbia, who had their captain Nikola Milenkovic sent off and had not conceded a qualifying goal in their previous four games.
This match though was about a resurgent England, who are now seven points clear at the top of Group K after five games, and to borrow a Gen Z term (which means by now they’ve probably stopped using it), it was the night the Three Lions finally cooked under Tuchel.
Now for the small matter of ensuring they don’t go off before next summer.