Slovenia 1-1 Serbia: England are handed the chance to WIN their Euro 2024 group as fans launch plastic cups onto the pitch before Luka Jovic scores dramatic late equaliser

Serbia started the day by threatening to walk out of the tournament. They ended it with the kind of celebrations that suggest they have no intention of giving it all up on a point of principle.

By salvaging the latest of late draws, Dragan Stojkovic's side have preserved their position in these championship, albeit to the ambient sounds of an extraordinary threat from his bosses at the Serbian FA and amid some quite disgraceful behaviour from a significant chunk of their supporters.

The latter came towards the close of this frenetic match, which had fallen into Slovenian hands on 69 minutes. With the Serbs crawling towards the exit after a goal of some beauty from Zan Karnicnik, matters turned horribly ugly, with somewhere in the region of 100 plastic cups thrown at Slovenia players at one end of Bayern Munich's ground.

At one stage, Jan Oblak, the Atletico Madrid goalkeeper who was first in the firing line, had to plead for them to stop. The response was a red smoke bomb being set off behind his goal and a flare was then launched onto the pitch as well.

The desperation, if we might call it that, was followed by a goal five minutes into stoppage time by Luka Jovic, so those supporters got what they wanted on what was a fiercely charged game and day.

The drama had started in the morning, when the Serbian FA demanded UEFA punish Croatia and Albania over chants from their fans during the 2-2 draw in Hamburg on Wednesday. With sets of supporters heard shouting 'Kill the Serbs', owing to long-running Balkan tensions, the Serbs said they were ready to pull out if nothing was done.

Time will tell if they go through with that, having recovered from their defeat by England with a draw that broadens their possibilities ahead of their Group C finale against Denmark. The alternative, so a withdrawal, would be an unprecedented chaos for the tournament.

For England and Gareth Southgate, interest in this wild fixture will mostly nose on Slovenia, their opponents next Tuesday. He will see a team of limited threat, even if they did start well here. Or to frame that a different way, they began how they ended against Denmark, with were fewer longer balls and more incision. Within 10 minutes, they twice had shots on goal – the sum total of what they managed in that first game.

As ever, the intention was to find Benjamin Sesko, Slovenia's bright young hope, but as with the Denmark tie, Serbia were wise to the plan. If there was a blueprint for England to be found in how best to nullify his effect, it involved muffling the supply through the middle.

With the RB Leipzig forward largely quiet across the first half, the moment of greatest threat came from the dangerous Timi Elsnik, who rattled a post after sidestepping a pair of challenges. Sesko had a clear opportunity from the rebound, but after trapping the loose ball he missed the target. In mitigation, he was heavily pressured by a swarm of red shirts and moving parts.

Serbia, as with their defeat by England, had been a distant second best for half an hour but closed well.

A chief part for the turnaround was that the Slovenians never found an adequate way of handling the muscular machismo of Aleksandar Mitrovic - there were times when he seemed to bully Karnicnik. The former Newcastle striker would force two saves from Oblak before the half was done and drew a third early in the second after catching Jaka Bijol on his heels.

Sesko eased some pressure with a 30-yarder, tipped over by Predrag Rajkovic, but Slovenia's recurring issue was the chasm between their midfield and front two. The solution was a wild run and a superb goal – Karnicnik started it with a tackle on the edge of his own area, beat Mijat Gacinovic as he built up speed and after covering 50 yards spread play to Elsnik and continued his run untracked to the far post. When the ball fizzed back in his direction, he tapped in the finish. Brilliant.

Mitrovic immediately hit the bar in response, highlighting a game-long difficulty the Slovenians incurred when defending crosses, and countless chances followed. It was only at the death when one made it through, with Jovic heading in from a corner when every Serbi player, goalkeeper included, loaded the box.

A brilliant conclusion to a strange affair.