Serbia vs England paused by referee as announcement made after laser incident

England's match against Serbia was briefly paused this evening due to a crowd incident. It is understood that a laser pointer in the crowd was being used by Serbian supporters to irritate the England players.

Chelsea's Reece James and Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa were thought to have been targeted by the laser which led to experienced referee Clement Turpin briefly pausing the match in the first half. Speaking on BBC Radio Five Live's commentary, former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson gave his take on what had happened.

"Ezri Konsa immediately stopped," the former Tottenham man said. "You could see the flash on his shirt.

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"He put his hands to his eyes. A clear green laser pen must have shone in his face."

The pause in the fixture led to jeers from the home supporters, who were already frustrated by the match before the incident, after an announcement over the stadium speakers. England led the game 2-0 when the match was paused in Belgrade.

Harry Kane opened the scoring on 33 minutes when he was left unmarked to head home Declan Rice's outswinging corner. Noni Madueke then doubled the Three Lions' advantage as he broke the offside trap to lift the ball into the back of the net.

Tonight's World Cup qualifier at the Rajko Mitic Stadium is being played in front of a reduced capacity crowd. Serbia's supporters are currently being punished for racist chanting that was heard during the World Cup qualifier against Andorra earlier this year.

Three Lions captain Harry Kane had indicated in the build-up to the game that his team would be prepared to walk off the pitch if any of his players were racially abused.

"We had a meeting and discussed the Uefa protocols that are in place.," he said. "We don't like to discuss it too much. Our focus is on the game. Anything can happen but we are not thinking about that.

"We are prepared to do what Uefa protocols allow us to do. I thought we handled it well in Bulgaria [in 2019]. We are prepared, had a discussion and if it [racist abuse] does happen we will be prepared to do what is necessary."

Should England be victorious against Serbia, they will move eight points clear of tonight's hosts and put themselves on the verge of World Cup qualification. The World Cup will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada next summer.

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