England suffer friendly defeat against Senegal
England 1 - 3 Senegal
We try to pull together some measured reaction and reporting after England lose in Nottingham. It's only a post season friendly that nobody will remember in three months.
Author | Kieran M
Stadium | The City Ground
England fell to their first defeat under Thomas Tuchel as Senegal claimed a thoroughly deserved win in a low-key friendly at the City Ground.
It wasn't a good performance from Tuchel’s team, who were outplayed by confident and composed opponents. Senegal became the first African nation to beat England’s men, and did so with an assured display.
For Tuchel though, it did give him an opportunity to see a different group of players together. He would have learned a lot from this.
A closer look at what happened
The evening had started brightly for the hosts, who took the lead in the seventh minute when Harry Kane reacted quickest after Edouard Mendy spilled Anthony Gordon’s low effort. It was Kane’s 73rd goal for England. This would be the main highlight for England.
Senegal struck back before the break, with Ismaila Sarr arriving unmarked at the far post after Kyle Walker failed to track the danger. It was the first goal England had conceded in four matches under Tuchel, but Senegal’s pressure had been steadily building and would not relent.
READ MORE | England overcome stubborn Andorra
Habib Diarra gave the visitors a deserved lead just after the hour, taking advantage of hesitant defending to beat Dean Henderson at his near post. Henderson, deputising for the rested Jordan Pickford, had been busy throughout as England struggled to assert themselves away from their usual Wembley surroundings.
There was brief hope of a late response when substitute Morgan Gibbs-White and Bukayo Saka tested Mendy, who redeemed himself with two sharp saves. Jude Bellingham had the ball in the net late on, only for VAR to rule it out for handball by Levi Colwill in the build-up.
Senegal sealed victory in stoppage time when Curtis Jones lost possession deep in his own half, allowing Cheikh Sabaly to slot home and trigger jeers from the frustrated home crowd.
This was England’s first loss to African opposition in 22 meetings, a run that included 15 wins and six draws. A bad night but one that will soon be forgotten.
Our final verdict
Can we stop overreacting to this defeat? Yes, the last two performances haven’t been good enough, but this group of players is coming off the back of another intense campaign.
They’ve proven they can compete at the highest level and will, no doubt, be among the favourites to win next year’s World Cup.
