An enthralling football match broke out for 50 minutes but perhaps it was naive to suggest this encounter would pass quietly.
It ended with Granit Xhaka, who had already outraged Serbia’s bench with a crude gesture midway through the second half, to the fore of yet another flare-up and there may be repercussions away from the pitch too. In the latter stages of normal time a message over the public address system asked the crowd to refrain from “discriminatory chants and gestures”. It has been alleged that sections of the Serbia support were responsible. Fifa had presumably already cleared time over the weekend to deal with any fallout from a match that always spelt trouble and their intray already looks full.
