Thirty minutes of warm up, then England hit the gas and brushed Senegal aside to land in the World Cup Quarter Finals, where a stellar matchup against France is waiting.
The fourth game in the Round of 16 was never in discussion as Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions bended the Teranga Lions‘ resistance in the first half already, which they ended on a two-goal lead thanks to Jordan Henderson and Harry Kane’s goals. Bukayo made it three for England in the second period.
Senegal surely didn’t have the odds in their favor but things got even worse for them as they failed to capitalized on the few chances they had before the Three Lions took over.
Salernitana’s Boulaye Dia managed to give a couple scares to Jordan Pickford but missed the close range tap in after a Harry Maguire mistake in his defensive third had triggered Krépin Diatta’s filtering pass for the Serie A player. Dia had another occasion on 32 minutes, but this time Pickford denied him as he palmed away his shot from a tight angle.
That was all the Teranga Lions could produce as they basically disappeared from the game as soon the English found the back of the net for the first time. Which happened on 38 minutes, as Kane picked Jude Bellingham with a fine vertical pass and the Borussia Dortmund midfielder served Henderson an easy chance to slot the ball home from the center of the box.
A few minutes later, and just before the half time break, Bellingham was absolutely devastating as he recovered the ball on the midfield line and ignited Phil Foden’s fast break. This time, the final service was for Kane, who could beat Eduard Mendy to finally open his scoring account in this World Cup.
The Senegalese coach Aliou Cissé tried to reshuffle his card with three substitutions at half time but it looked clear that the chances for a comeback were minimal. On 57 minutes, Saka wrapped it for the Three Lions with a delicious chip, making the best out of a Foden pass from the left hand flank.
That was basically it. England progressed in an emphatic fashion, reinforcing their claim to the world throne, even though Mbappe and co might have something to say about it. For Senegal, the consolation prize was having made it past the Group Stage despite the absence of their most representative player Sadio Mane.
MATCH SCORECARD
December 4, 2022 – FIFA World Cup Round of 16
ENGLAND – SENEGAL 3-0
SCORERS: 38′ Henderson, 45+3′ Kane, 57′ Saka
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ENGLAND (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Walker, Stones (76′ Dier), Maguire, Shaw; Henderson (82′ Phillips), Rice; Saka (65′ Grealish), Bellingham (76′ Mount), Foden (65′ Rashford); Kane (Ramsdale, Wilson, Trippier, Pope, Coady, Alexander-Arnold, Maddison, Gallagher) Coach: Southgate |
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SENEGAL (4-3-3): E. Mendy; Sabaly, Koulibaly, Diallo, Jakobs (84′ Ballo-Touré sv); Diatta (46′ Dieng), N. Mendy, Ciss (46′ P. Gueye); I. Sarr, Dia (72′ Diedhou), Ndiaye 6 (46′ P. Sarr) (Gomis, S. Dieng, F. Mendy, P. A. Cissé, Jackson N’Diaye, Name, Loum) Coach: Cissé |
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Koulibaly (S); Added Time: 1st Half 3′, 2nd Half 4′
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