England’s clash with Serbia was temporarily paused during the first-half after irritated home fans pointed lasers at the visiting players.
The incident came after Thomas Tuchel’s side took a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Harry Kane and Noni Madueke, who bagged his first for his country.
With frustration amongst the home fans in Belgrade growing, England defenders Reece James and Ezri Konsa were two of the players targeted by lasers from the crowd.
A clip posted to social media showed Konsa, 27, raising his hands to his eyes while driving forward with the ball as the red lights were directed at him.
The disruption left the referee with little choice but to halt the fixture, a decision met with loud jeers by the Serbian fans.
Describing exactly what had happened on BBC Radio Five Live’s coverage of the game, former Three Lions goalkeeper Paul Robinson said: ‘Ezri Konsa immediately stopped. You could see the flash on his shirt.
England’s game against Serbia was temporarily paused in the 38th minute after Ezri Konsa and Reece James were targeted with lasers from the crowd
The Serbian supporters had indeed been a major talking point in the build-up to the game
‘He put his hands to his eyes. A clear green laser pen must have shone in his face.’
The crowd at the Rajko Mitic Stadium was indeed a major talking point in the build up to Tuesday’s World Cup Qualifier.
The fixture was played in front of a reduced crowd, with Serbian supporters being punished after aiming vile racist abuse at Andorra’s players earlier this year.
In his pre-match press conference, England skipper Harry Kane said he and the rest of the Three Lions would walk off if they’re racially abused.
‘Yes [we will walk off],’ he said, ‘We had a similar situation in Bulgaria. UEFA have the protocols in place for us to follow. We know the steps, we know the situation.
‘We’re talking about something that’s not happened yet. ‘We’ll take every in our stride, everything as it comes. We’re clear in what we want to do. Let’s just see what happens tomorrow night. We’re more focused on Serbia as a team and how we can hurt them.’
The intimidating Serbian crowd did not nevertheless get the better of Tuchel’s men, who breezed to a 0-5 away victory against the likes of Dusan Vlahovic and Aleksandr Mitrovic.
Kane opened the scoring early on after bundling the ball past the home side’s goalkeeper before a sublime flick from Morgan Rogers set up Noni Madeuke for his first international goal.
After the break, Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa made it three as he fired home into an empty net for his maiden England goal before Marc Guehi also got in on the action, scoring his first international goal in the 75th minute.
Marcus Rashford later sealed the 0-5 victory for the travelling Three Lions with a penalty laced into the bottom corner.
The win sees England keep their place at the top of their qualifying group on 15 points with three games to go.
