England 3 - Senegal 0
Henderson 38'
Kane 45+2'
Sakr 57'
Being an England fan is kind of like being a ye olde pirate who has been forced to walk the plank. You have no idea when it will happen but you are certain that it will happen because failure is inevitable. That feeling that "this could be our year" which the fans of some teams might experience, has long been replaced by one of just waiting for the day to happen; waiting with nothing but disaster. In the meantime, watching England matches is like trying to cling onto the fleeting moments of happiness for they too inevitably disappoint.
England started this match cautiously and Senegal came out with the intent to be a threat. England appeared to be confused and dazed and although they were able to control the odd pass, Senegal were here to score early and steal the ball whenever they could. This meant that for the first twenty minutes or so, nobody was really to establish any kind of control; with the ball passing from 18 yard box to 18 yard box, in rapid succession. Harry Kane's half-hearted shot in the 20th minute was met with an unnecessary tip over the line by the Senegalese keeper Mendy, and England won a corner which they duly fluffed. This proves yet again that short corner kicks never ever ever work, ever.
Two minutes later Sarr broke through the England back four and with only the England keeper to beat, he may have been brought down by Maguire at the back. His shot from 3 yards away bobbled off to the side and after demands for VAR to see if there was a possible penalty, this was waved away.
Senegal took a while to build up their second shot, and Dia managed to dink inside the England back four. With only Pickford to beat and from inside the 6 yard box, all that Dia found, was the flailing arms of the England keeper and the ball was parried out for a corner.
Just before the close of the half and when Senegal were pressing deep into the England half, Bellingham won a ball out wide and upon spotting acres of space, ran into it. The ball that he delivered from out wide, found Foden in the centre and as the Senegalese defence arrived, Foden off-loaded it to Harry Kane who took two small touches and then appeared to manipulate space and time to give himself an eternity to jam the second goal home in the bottom right hand corner of the net. Bellingham ordered it, Foden wrapped it up, Kane put enough postage on it and delivered it.
Kane who had now broken his duck, grew three sizes. Just before the hour mark Kane decided to take a shot. This rocket was met with Mendy; who badly spilled it, and the ball wobbled under him and harmlessly outwards to safety.
England however were not happy with merely missing shots and Bellingham who proved dangerous by drawing defenders everywhere created a massive hole in Senegal's back five. With Bellingham wide, this gave Phil Foden a hallway of calm to walk through. Foden's skipped passed one tackle, popped the ball underneath the defender and the cross was met with the left foot of Bukayo Sakr inside the box, which just lifted ball ever so slightly to pull the ball over Mendy, and to put the game beyond any reasonable doubt.
If Senegal hadn't been deflated by the second goal, the third goal certainly popped the last balloon. Not only did Senegal forget how to party but the tempo of their play just collapsed. Curiously, the Senegalese crowd never once stopped their party in the stands; so I guess that at least someone in green, red and yellow was happy.
Senegal has a glimmer of hope to at least put one on the board when Jack Grealish brought down Kalidou Koulibaly in the 71st minute and Senegal won a free kick from about 35 yards away. England set up a three man wall and the question would be whether or not Sarr could hit the ball hard enough. Papp Sarr tried to go around the outside of the wall but Pickford who saw the ball at every stage on the way through, didn't even have to lay a finger on it as it curled around everything and about ten yards beyond the far post.
Deep into extra time Senegal did manage to scramble through the England defence and Sarr took a shot from on top of the ring at the 18 yard box; which Pickford punched forcefully out for a corner. Senegal's last roll of the dice was the corner kick which managed float over the top of everything and curl back over the goal line.
Admittedly England have only played teams ranked in the lower teens so far this tournament and their first real opposition will be France but at least this match proves that they can put a match to bed. England who were accused of playing with the handbrake on in the press, during the qualifiers, surely have proved by now that they can rip apart opposing teams for fun. What we've learned from this tournament, is that Gareth Southgate has selected an England side with no obvious superstar with the possible exception of Harry Kane but even then, goals have come from everywhere. It is likely that unlike the matches thus far which have been 4-3-3, that England will need to move someone from the front back into midfield to play 4-4-2 against France.
England have taken one more step closer towards the crushing inevitability of failure but for the moment, they have managed to cling onto the fleeting moments of happiness that floats by.
No comments:
Post a Comment