Vak from the brink

Jude rescues team from humiliation by Slovakia

- ANDY LINES, PAUL BYRNE

IN what was more of a rescue act than a convincing victory, it took England a nerve-jangling 121 minutes to secure their place in the quarter-finals last night.

A dramatic 95th-minute overhead equaliser by Jude Bellingham saved the Three Lions from humiliation against 45th-ranked Slovakia in normal time. Then Harry Kane sent fans delirious by sealing the win in extra time.

The crowd belted out The Great Escape movie theme tune in the stadium at Gelsenkirchen... a fitting response.

Millions more watching at home breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Supporters got behind the team for the whole game but one, Josh Smith, said: "I thought we were very lucky." Many agreed the performance was not world-beating, yet most were just happy to be in the next round.

Gareth Southgate's boys will now play Switzerland on Saturday, who saw off Italy this weekend with a 2-0 win.

Fans in the 30,000 crowd sang "Hey Jude" after the Real Madrid star's late leveller and the strains of Football's Coming Home rang around the German arena, with popstar Ed Sheeran among those joining in.

But after Ivan Schranz had stunned those supporters into silence with an opening goal in the 25th minute, it looked like the England squad would be the only thing going home.