Serbia vs England live: Three Lions put five past hosts in merciless World Cup qualifying thrashing
Serbia 0-5 England: Three Lions have lift-off under Thomas Tuchel after thrashing in Belgrade
England produced their best display yet under Thomas Tuchel with a thumping 5-0 win over Serbia in World Cup qualifying in Belgrade.
It was captain Harry Kane who secured the breakthrough, notching his 74th England goal with a fine header from a Declan Rice corner. Noni Madueke backed up his impressive performance against Andorra by scoring his first international goal moments later after a sweet Morgan Rogers flick-on, leaving England deservedly 2-0 up at half-time.
Ezri Konsa added to England’s lead after Serbia keeper Dorde Petrovic failed to clear a long-range Anthony Gordon attempt, with the hosts’ misery compounded when captain Nikola Milenkovic was handed a straight red card for bringing down Harry Kane.
Marc Guehi then tapped in from a deep Rice free-kick, and substitute Marcus Rashford made it five with a cool, composed penalty after Strahinja Erakovic clumsily brought down Ollie Watkins in the box.
The result leaves the Three Lions seven points clear of second-placed Albania in Group K with five wins from five in this campaign, and well on track to qualify for next summer’s finals.
Follow all the latest updates and action with The Independent’s live blog below:
England finally deliver on Thomas Tuchel’s vision with five-goal rout of Serbia
Thomas Tuchel said he was looking forward to this, and you can now see why. He’s at last given England something to look forward to, and that goes beyond just being at the World Cup next summer.
This 5-0 win over Serbia should make qualification a certainty given that Tuchel’s side are seven points clear of second place with just three games left, but more important was the manner of it. It was, really, a perfect night - right down to three players enjoying their first international goals.
This was what England had been waiting for. This, finally, was Tuchel’s England. They were disciplined in structure and then dynamic in attack, exactly what he has long idealised.
England finally deliver on Thomas Tuchel’s vision with five-goal rout of Serbia
More from Rice
The midfielder added: "Everything that we have been working on. The five wins, the first four games people have been wanting to see six and seven goals.
“It is never going to happen when teams camp 10 men behind the ball. The whole performance tonight from start to finish was top.
"The mentality has been right all week, the attitude has been right. This was the big game this week and this puts us in a good position going forward."
'Incredible night' says Declan Rice
The England midfielder said: "Incredible night. We knew it was going to be really tough coming here, but a five-star performance.
“We took control from the very first minute, and we needed that tonight."
Post match thoughts from Harry Kane
The England captain told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I spoke a lot yesterday about how we wanted to play – being on the front foot and being aggressive, and I think we showed our level today. Even in the other games, we did well, but we didn't reach top form.
"We scored five and made it look comfortable. We can be proud of ourselves. It has been a great camp and we are in a great position.
"Serbia are a good team, and we made them look average tonight."
England were 'amazing' - Thomas Tuchel
Thomas Tuchel has a chat with ITV, looking and sounding level-headed as ever despite a rather thrilling performance.
He says: “I’m more than happy for the team and the staff. We had an excellent week from start to finish. We just proved what I saw everyday in this camp and that makes me very happy.
“There was a lot of teamwork in its purest form, and from there we showed our quality. We played with intensity in the duels; there was a lot of invisible work that you get no praise for.
“Elliot [Anderson] had another fantastic performance. [On Marc Guehi] It’s exactly how the boys were in this camp – they put their personal interest aside. He was the best teammate possible.
“We’ve only had three weeks of training together. That’s half a pre-season – it takes a bit of time. The credit goes to the players, they did amazing.”
Next up
England play Latvia away on 14 October and face Serbia at Wembley on 13 November.
Four points from those matches would mean the Three Lions will qualify for the World Cup with a game to spare.
Their final match is in Albania on 16 November.
As things stand
The Group K table is very positive for England.
They have 15 points from five games and a goal difference of +13.
That’s 13 goals scored and none conceded so far in World Cup qualifying under Thomas Tuchel.
Albania are now up to second place haveing beaten Lativa tonight meanign Serbia have work to do in the next international break.
Ruthless England hammer Serbia
Reaction from former England goalkeeper
Paul Robinson, a former England goalkeeper, told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“Statement made. Benchmark set. A great performance from England.
“You run out of superlatives tonight for England.
“Everything that Thomas Tuchel said what he wanted from his team they have followed it out to the nth degree.
“Impressive statement performance from England tonight.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments