Ismaila Sarr, Habib Diarra and Cheikh Sabaly fired Senegal to a shock 3-1 friendly comeback victory over England at the City Ground, Nottingham.
Diarra pounced on Kalidou Koulibaly’s long ball to slot in a 62nd-minute winner which saw Senegal become the first African team to defeat England in any competition.
Their victory was further stamped with a 93rd-minute counter-attack finish from Sabaly.
Harry Kane fired England ahead on the rebound from a seventh-minute spillage by Edouard Mendy, who had saved Anthony Gordon’s shot.
Senegal sparked their comeback with a 40th-minute equalising strike from Sarr after he met Nicolas Jackson’s cut-back pass unmarked.
England manager, Thomas Tuchel accused his team of freezing with little activity throughout the match until 2-1 down, as he spoke to ITV post match.
“Yeah of course, it’s a disappointing result. Not sure if we did not deserve a little bit more result-wise. Felt a bit frozen, not active enough for a long time over the match.
“We defended quite well for long periods in the first half and then our best period came when we were 2-1 down. We conceded the first two goals – very easy goals, we need to defend better.
“The reaction was good after we were down. We suddenly were more active, more free, more fluent, more aggressive. We had big chances to equalise.”
Following an abysmal yet clinical win over Andorra on Saturday (7 June), Tuchel made 10 changes ahead of this match which included putting Dean Henderson in goal in place of Jordan Pickford.
That gamble quickly paid off as Henderson made crucial blocks to deny Nicolas Jackson, Habib Diarra and Ismaila Sarr in the opening 15 minutes.
England however were more energetic which paid dividends in the seventh minute as Conor Gallagher pounced on an interception by Eberechi Eze, which he fed to Gordon whose shot was saved by Edouard Mendy but spilled for Kane to tuck away on the rebound to put the hosts ahead.
Gordon almost doubled England’s lead in the 28th minute but he flicked Kyle Walker’s low cross agonisingly wide of his near-left corner.
England’s defence proved solid in their three opening games under Tuchel with clean sheets but a costly lapse in focus from Kyle Walker allowed Sarr through, and he duly smashed in a 40th-minute equaliser from Jackson’s cutback pass to restore parity at half time.
Tuchel’s Three Lions subsequently returned to their sluggish lacklustre performance of the Andorra game in the second half with little quality.
Senegal however showed more passion and fight which caught England’s defence napping in the 62nd minute as Koulibaly whipped a long ball over the top, which Diarra calmly pounced on unmarked and fired through Henderson’s legs to put the visitors ahead.
That defensive blunder sparked England into life as Morgan Gibbs-White forced a 65th-minute save from Mendy, before he teed up Saka whose on-the-turn shot was flicked wide of the bottom-left corner by Mendy.
England’s night almost was dealt a fatal blow through Pape Gueye’s 82nd-minute strike, but the Senegalese put his shot narrowly wide of the bottom-right corner as Senegal looked to become the first African team to beat the Three Lions.
Further bad luck befell England as substitute, Jude Bellingham flicked in from Levi Colwill’s knock-on touch from a 84th-minute corner, but referee – Stephanie Frappart disallowed the goal after a two-minute delay as she deemed Colwill’s assist to be a handball after the delivery bounced off his left arm.
Senegal eventually clung on to become the first African team to beat England at the 22nd time of asking on a historic night for the Lions of Teranga in Nottingham, which was confirmed through a 93rd-minute counter-attack finish from Sabaly to condemn the Three Lions to a worrying defeat.
What’s Next?
England return their focus to World Cup Qualifying with a home clash against Andorra at Villa Park, Birmingham, on Saturday 6 September at 5pm BST, followed by a trip to Serbia on Tuesday 9 September at 8:45pm CEST (7:45pm UK Time).
Teams
England: Dean Henderson, Kyle Walker, Levi Colwill, Trevoh Chalobah, Myles Lewis-Skelly (Toney 88′), Declan Rice (Bellingham 71′), Conor Gallagher (Jones 59′), Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka (Madueke 71′), Harry Kane (Rogers 59′), Anthony Gordon (Gibbs-White 58′)
Substitutes: Jordan Pickford, Reece James, Ezri Konsa, Morgan Gibbs-White, Jordan Henderson, Jude Bellingham, Dan Burn, Ivan Toney, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones, Morgan Rogers, Noni Madueke, Cole Palmer, James Trafford
Senegal: Edouard Mendy, Krepin Diatta, Kalidou Koulibaly, Moussa Niakhate, El Hadij Diouf, Habib Diarra (P.Gueye 71′), Idrissa Gueye, Lamine Camara, Ismaila Sarr (Sabaly 70′), Nicolas Jackson (Dia 82′), Iliman Ndiaye
Substitutes: Mamadou Camara, Boulaye Dia, Mory Diaw, Yehvann Diouf, Pape Gueye, Idrissa Gueye, Ismail Jakobs, Antoine Mendy, Cherif Ndiaye, Cheikh Niasse, Cheikh Sabaly, Abdoulaye Seck, Abdallah Sima
Referee – Stephanie Frappart
Leave a Reply