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It was down to England’s consistency and the paucity of the opposition in World Cup qualifying Group K that there was zero jeopardy about this occasion. Thomas Tuchel’s team can only beat what is in front of them and they had done that with sufficient regularity to guarantee their place at the finals next summer with two matches to spare.
It made for the question. Could they do it on a soggy midweek night when most of the people outside their camp did not care? The answer was yes, even if it was not a performance or an occasion to quicken the pulse or live for any length of time in the memory. The serious business is to come.
Tuchel had demanded energy, a finessing of the connections between his players, a reinforcement of the identity he has wanted to see emerge out of the autumn programme. It did not really happen.
What the manager did get was another win and another clean sheet. Seven from seven qualifying ties. The final game is against Albania in Tirana on Sunday. And, also, two lovely goals.
Bukayo Saka got the first in the 28th minute with a volley that was marked by trademark technique. And Eberechi Eze, who came on as part of a quadruple substitution on 64 minutes that also included Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden, scored the second.
Serbia wanted a foul for a shirt pull by Bellingham but he played on to Foden and when he found Eze, the first-time curler for the far corner was too much for the Serbia goalkeeper, Predrag Rajkovic.
There were quite a few empty seats at Wembley and virtually nobody in the Serbia enclosure after the nation’s Football Association refused to organise the sale of tickets to fans in the wake of recent crowd trouble. Those that did make it into the three blocks by one of the corner flags numbered about 30. They looked lonely.
It was always going to be on Tuchel’s players to spark the supporters, not the other way around; the motivation had to come from within. A part of the challenge was to unpick Serbia’s 4-5-1 system. It was the visitors’ first game under the new manager, Veljko Paunovic, and Tuchel had made the point that the absence of any footage of his teams was a complication to England’s preparations. It would be a test, he said, of his players’ flexibility and communication; their patience, too.
The first paper plane from the stands was cheered onto the fringes of the pitch in the 19th minute and it was certainly a sleepy start, despite the best efforts of Elliot Anderson and Morgan Rogers to inject a bit of tempo. Or England’s desire to open up the game with raking long diagonals.
Rogers had been Tuchel’s headline selection, retained in the No 10 position, the manager naming the recalled Bellingham as a substitute. How could Tuchel have put Bellingham straight back in? It would have undermined so much of what he has preached. Rogers had been excellent as a starter in the previous three matches, won by scorelines of 5-0, 3-0 and 5-0. The first of those had been the transformative result against Serbia in Belgrade.
Saka cut through the torpor. From a Declan Rice free-kick, it was a poor punch under no pressure from Rajkovic, which located the debutant left-back, Nico O’Reilly, on the edge of the box and his shot deflected out to Saka on the right. It is a movement that Saka has practiced over and over again. The quick adjustment of the feet. The opening up of his body. The left-footed volley, almost caressed into the far corner.
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England made a few inroads up the left, Marcus Rashford flickering, threatening with his tricks. O’Reilly saw a deflected cross fly at the outside of the near post – from the corner, Harry Kane headed wide – while Rashford had shot too close to Rajkovic on 25 minutes. It was just a shame that Rashford fluffed a pass to Rice on a break before the interval. Rogers also glanced a header wide.
The importance of the game could not be understated for Serbia. They had arrived in London determined to keep their hopes alive of a playoff spot. For England, it is always important; the scrutiny comes as standard. It felt like a big opportunity for Rashford in the absence of the injured Anthony Gordon. The pace was always there from the Barcelona winger; the willingness to run at his full-back. The end product was erratic.
It was yet another quiet night for Jordan Pickford. He had entered the game on the back of nine consecutive clean sheets. The last time he conceded for England was in October last year in the Nations League defeat here against Greece.
Serbia wondered whether they could produce one moment and it almost came in the 63rd minute when Filip Kostic crossed after a rare break. Dusan Vlahovic flicked wide of the far post.
The closing stages were more stretched as Serbia went for broke. With Albania winning against Andorra, they needed something, although they never looked like getting it. It was Eze who added to England’s advantage. He had seen one shot hit Rajkovic and bounce off the crossbar. His finish on the counterattack was a beauty.
