England quietly dispose of Senegal and will find the French team in the quarter-finals
In their rich respective footballing history, the two nations had never faced each other before this round of 16 World Cup. It was therefore a great first which promised to be thrilling between these two teams. On the one hand, England, reigning European vice-champion, on the other, Senegal, African Champion 2021. A very interesting confrontation in perspective therefore. Unfortunately, the meeting gave birth to a very sluggish start with two teams sizing each other up. After a long period of observation, the English began to press their opponents with conviction to maintain the pressure in the Senegalese camp. Despite this, the Senegalese finally got the first hot situations.
On a bad recovery from Harry Maguire, Youssouf Sabaly overflowed and crossed hard at the penalty spot where Boulaye Dia was blocked in extremis by John Stones. The ball returned in front of the goal where Ismaïla Sarr, however alone, hit just above the English goal (23rd). Half an hour into the game, Bukayo Saka missed his back pass which benefited Ismaïla Sarr. The Watford player slipped the leather for Boulaye Dia who shot from a tight angle and his attempt was repelled by Jordan Pickford (31st). A few minutes later, Jude Bellingham, well served by Jude Bellingham, carried the ball and entered the box. The English nugget centered back towards the penalty spot where Jordan Henderson executed a cross shot that deceived Edouard Mendy (39th, 1-0).
England on fire
The realization of the Liverpool player did a lot of good for the men of Gareth Southgate. The English were much more dangerous in the wake of this first achievement. At first, Harry Kane sent his recovery over the Senegalese goal after a good cross from Bukayo Saka (41st) then Jude Bellingham launched Luke Shaw who tumbled but pushed his ball too much and his cross was finally blocked for a corner by Édouard Mendy (43rd). Just before the break, England doubled the lead thanks to their home goalscorer. Still on the initiative, Jude Bellingham launched Phil Foden in depth. The latter fixed Kalidou Koulibaly and gave the leather to Harry Kane. On the right of the surface, the Spurs player shot Édouard Mendy with an unstoppable recovery (45th + 3, 2-0).
When they returned from the locker room, Senegal returned to the meadow with the desire to put more pressure in the midfield. Shifted by Pape Gueye, Youssouf Sabaly delivered a center back and Pape Matar Sarr emerged to arm a recovery that narrowly passed the opposing cages (50th). After this failed attempt, the English regained control of the game. Harry Kane even tried a long shot and the effect put by the player in the ball surprised Édouard Mendy who let the leather slip before winning in two stages (56th). In the continuity of this opportunity, Phil Foden took his lane then crossed low to the ground towards the near post where Bukayo Saka emerged to get ahead of Abdou Diallo and deceive Édouard Mendy with a cross shot (57th, 3-0).
The Three Lions will find the Blues in the quarter
With just over 30 minutes left to play at that time, Senegal did not seem capable of reversing the trend. On a free kick in the middle about 25 meters from the English cages, Pape Matar Sarr triggered a powerful shot that went to the right of Jordan Pickford’s goal (74th). For its part, England was quietly heading towards a relatively easy qualification for the rest of the competition and in particular a confrontation against the French team in the quarter-finals next Saturday. The English also managed the end of the meeting so as not to leave too many feathers in the battle before finding the Blues, qualified after their victory against Poland (3-1), in the next round.