England suffered their first-ever defeat against an African opponent as Senegal ran out surprise 3-1 winners at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground. The friendly loss comes only three days after the Three Lions laboured to a one-goal victory over minnows Andorra in a World Cup qualifier, with Thomas Tuchel overseeing a worrying run of form in his early days as manager.
Harry Kane gave England the lead on Tuesday night by tapping in a rebound from Anthony Gordon’s shot in the seventh minute. But from there, the home side’s gameplan unravelled. Ismaila Sarr drew Senegal level before the interval, Habib Diarra snuck his effort under stand-in goalkeeper Dean Henderson just after the our mark, and Cheikh Sabaly rubbed salt in the wounds in stoppage time as the visitors notched a famous win. Here, Express Sport takes you through how each England player performed…
England player ratings vs Senegal (4-4-2)
Dean Henderson: 6
Made a string of good contributions in the first half, including saves to deny Nicolas Jackson and Idrissa Gueye, but should have done better with the Diarra goal.
Kyle Walker: 5
Should have had an assist when his wicked low cross into the box was fumbled wide by Gordon. But Senegal had a lot of joy down Walker’s side, and he was beaten to the ball by Sarr for their equaliser – a big mistake.
Trevoh Chalobah: 5
Didn’t do anywhere near enough to stop Chelsea team-mate Jackson putting the cross in for Sarr’s leveller.
Levi Colwill: 4
Really poor evening for the Chelsea man, who found it hard to cope with the Senegal press. Got booked after being skinned by Jackson, was then dispossessed by him before being bailed out by Henderson, and was partly at fault for Diarra’s goal. To top it off, his handball led to Jude Bellingham’s late equaliser being chalked off.
Myles Lewis-Skelly: 5 (Toney, 88)
Didn’t contribute a lot on the ball and got caught out of position for the Diarra goal.
Bukayo Saka: 5 (Madueke, 71)
Nowhere near his best. Often deserted Walker to deal with Senegal’s threat down their left side. Did force a fingertip save from Edouard Mendy in the second half.
Conor Gallagher: 5 (Jones, 59)
Some tenacity on show but was part of an England midfield which was poor in general.
Declan Rice: 4 (Bellingham, 71)
It wasn’t a good night for the Arsenal clan. Rice usually commands games like this. He didn’t do anything like that, and was lucky not to get punished after giving the ball away while running back towards goal in the second period.
Anthony Gordon: 6 (Gibbs-White, 59)
A few bright moments early on, and it was his shot which rebounded into the path of Kane for England’s opener. Gordon did, however, miss a sitter from a superb Walker cross.
Harry Kane: 7 (Rogers, 59)
Tapped in Gordon’s rebound for his 73rd England goal but didn’t have much joy otherwise, and regularly found himself having to drop deep in order to get on the ball.
Eberechi Eze: 8
England’s best player on the night. Nicked the ball to start the attack which led to Kane’s goal. Set up a gilt-edged chance for substitute Morgan Gibbs-White with an exquisite back-heel. Was then involved in setting up a big chance for Saka which was tipped wide.
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Morgan Gibbs-White: 5
Heavily involved after coming on but it wasn’t all good. Positionally quesitonable for the Diarra goal, and should have finished off the opportunity after Eze’s flick. Did set up an opening for Saka.
Morgan Rogers: 6
A quiet cameo off the bench.
Curtis Jones: 5
Skied a good chance straight after coming on.
Noni Madueke: 6
Looked lively and put a couple of dangerous crosses into the box.
Jude Bellingham: 7
Quick to pounce when the ball dropped to him in the box late on, produced a clinical touch and finish which was disallowed for Colwill’s handball.
Ivan Toney: N/A
A late addition.
