A thing. A flippin dink. England advanced to the World Cup quarter-finals and Bukayo Saka’s audacity with his third goal momentarily allayed fears that this team could be overwhelmed by France and Kylian Mbappe on Saturday.
It’s going to be a gigantic test, don’t kid yourself. France could be the best team here, certainly the best of the European contingent. Still, it was a clear result for England against the African champions, improving on France’s result earlier in the day against an ordinary Polish side.
England drove a difficult first half, leading 2-0 and then calmed their nerves by adding a third after 56 minutes. That it came through Bukayo Saka, whom Southgate had chosen over last week’s hero Marcus Rashford, was another victory for the manager over his critics. Predictably, team news brought the usual irritation over his decisions, although Saka, Harry Kane and Phil Foden would have been a very popular front trio before the tournament started.
And they delivered for Southgate – as did Jude Bellingham, who delivered another superb performance in the heart of midfield. Bellingham scored one goal and was involved in another, Kane scored his first goal here and overtook Gary Lineker as England’s top scorer of the tournament, while Saka scored his third goal in Qatar to draw level with Rashford in the Golden Boot fight. Foden, meanwhile, became England’s first player since David Beckham against Denmark in 2002 to provide two assists in a World Cup knockout game.
It was his cross through Kalidou Koulibaly’s legs that set up England’s third goal after Kane had played the ball in. Saka saw Edouard Mendy coming into Senegal’s goal and simply dunk the ball over his body. Smart, clinical, it was a goal that summed up England after some early scares. And while France entered the quarter-finals with three goalscorers, England boast eight. They might be a little worried about us too, you know.
The thousands of meters long looks on the made-up faces of the Senegalese fans told their own story. Harry Kane had made a two with the last kick of the first half. But it could have been 2-0 to Senegal before England got out of the blocks. How could they have allowed that?
England are clinical. Here’s how. It’s another of the more impressive features of Gareth Southgate’s tenure. He’s best with a goalscorer like Kane, sure. But he’s also built a team that takes their chances, that stays cool in front of goal. Senegal not. That’s why they were behind. Losing Sadio Mane was huge too, never forget that. Had he played, would England have saved? Boulaye Dia is a good striker but not in Mane’s class. And while Ismaila Sarr has plenty of admirers in the Premier League, none have yet been willing to pay the money to get him out of Watford.
England thus outperformed their opponents, who were also missing important midfielders. That doesn’t show up in the first 30 minutes. Senegal was the better team. They had the first chance of the game after four minutes and the best chances of the game in the 22nd and 32nd minutes. It could have been a disastrous start for England. Instead, England persevered, held on and scored two goals with brilliant counter-attacks, brilliantly executed by two of the team’s most experienced players, Jordan Henderson and Kane. Vice-Captain and Captain. That’s why Southgate sticks to the tried and tested. The call for the young player, the form player, ignores the fact that tournament football is about building a winning team. And that requires old heads and cool heads as well as the fearlessness of youth.
So in the 39th minute it was Kane who was smart enough to spot the perfect pass to Jude Bellingham that would unmask Senegal’s back line and play. Bellingham continued to charge with the same confidence he showed in the first group game against Iran, parrying a beautiful pass to the midfielder who found the Senegal box late.
It was a run Frank Lampard would have been proud of and that is indeed credit to Henderson, whose role for England was more down-to-earth. He has scored just two goals in 73 England games, most recently in a 2021 World Cup qualifier against Albania. But he took this as if nothing were routine, as good as a pass past Edouard Mendy into the net. To be fair, Bellingham couldn’t have made it any easier, his pass put it on a plate, a fact Henderson seemed to acknowledge, pointing at his young teammate and gesturing to the crowd to spot him. Bellingham is England’s youngest World Cup goalscorer since 1966, while Henderson is the oldest goalscorer since Tom Finney. It’s a mix, it’s a team.
Just six minutes later, in first-half injury time, England scored the second. This time Bellingham started the move, marauding again and finding Phil Foden, whose selfless square pass left Kane a one-on-one with Mendy. There was only one winner there, Kane laced the ball past the Chelsea man for his first goal of the tournament. From there it was a long way back to Senegal.
How different it could have been if the African champions had finished like England. The game was just four minutes old when Dia smashed through John Stones and Harry Maguire took the ball off his toes. Dia got back in front of Stones after 22 minutes and found Sarr firing over the goal from close range – a good chance missed. Then, after an easy play, Bukayo Saka used Sarr on the left and threaded the ball to Dia, who forced a fabulous save from Jordan Picktord. strong hands The Senegalese drummers kept going even as the game slipped but after that it will be easier to beat the drum for Southgate and England. France look as good as any opponent here, but any team that takes their chances always has a chance for a puncher.
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