Euro 2024: Bellingham Gemilang, England Wins

England midfielder Jude Bellingham celebrated a goal he scored against Serbia in the 2024 European Cup Group C match at Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Sunday (16/6/2024). (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Jude Bellingham scored the only goal to bring England's national team to a 1-0 win over Serbia in the Group C match of the 2024 Europa Cup at Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Sunday local time or Monday 17 June morning WIB. The win brought the Three Lions to the top of the Group C standings with a collection of three points, while Serbia were in fourth or last place with zero points, as quoted from the official UEFA website. Bellingham's single goal was created in the 13th minute when the Real Madrid midfielder headed Bukayo Saka's ball, to complete his brilliant performance that night. However, collectively, England failed to match the German and Spanish standing standards as both strong countries won their opening matches.England's expectation of England in the main tournament was rarely set very high, moreover they won only one of the five matches before. The record included a 0-1 defeat to Iceland in their last warm-up game before flying to Germany. After Bellingham's goal, England appeared dominant in the remainder of the first half, even without being able to create any further dangerous opportunities. Kyle Walker had the best chance of doubling the advantage before the break, when he fired a shot wide after advancing into the Serbian penalty box from the right-back position. England coach Gareth Southgate gambled on his main team by playing right-back Liverpool Trent Alexander-Arnold at the midfield position. It was almost a loss, when Alexander-Arnold's error made Serbia have a net chance of the only in the first half which Aleksandar Mitrovic failed to finish. In the second half, England more survived and was lucky to not be conceded by the opponent. At the start of this second half, Marc Guehi failed to anticipate Dusan Vlahovic's speed, fortunately for England as Filip Mladenovic failed to snatch the JUventus striker's cross-section. Mitrovic then asked for a referee-negligible penalty, and Luka Jovic failed to maximize Dusan Tadic's pass on another good chance for Serbia.Southgate then included Conor Gallagher and Jarrod Bowen as a substitute. Bowen immediately gave an impact when his cross was met by Kane's brilliant header at the cross to the crossbar by the Serbian goal.

The header was Kane's only significant impact in the opponent's penalty box, when the Bayern Munich forward had a frustrating night. England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford also had to make his only important save when he suppressed Vlahovic's shot just before the game was over. Until halftime, the score 1-0 for England's lead did not change.