It's telling that there's absolutely no debate about Bukavo Saka

THERE was something almost reassuringly familiar about the sight of Serbia's Strahinja Pavlović taking out Bukayo Saka after 22 minutes of England's opening Euro 2024 group game on Sunday.

- Dan Kilpatrick

Saka had by then already made England's winning goal with a deflected cross for Jude Bellingham after racing away from Pavlović and was giving Serbia's left-sided defender hell, turning him inside out again and again.

Anyone who has watched Arsenal knows Saka is frequently the target of rough treatment from struggling defenders, particularly after he has gone past them at least once, and in the circumstances Pavlović arguably showed a degree of restraint by waiting so long to foul his tormentor.

Watching Saka run at Serbia, it was easy to forget that he came into the European Championship short of fitness, having struggled to train fully in the warm-up camp after ending the domestic season with a groin injury.

There were, too, lingering concerns that the 22-year-old might be feeling the strain of a gruelling campaign in which he played 52 times for club and country, and was rarely afforded a breather by Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.

Saka, though, looked refreshed in the first half in Gelsenkirchen before fading and being replaced for the final 15 minutes, as England clung on to a 1-0 win.