England eventually breezed their into the World Cup quarter final with a 3-0 victory over Senegal on Sunday night. The Three Lions showed their vulnerabilities in the first half but perked up as Senegal faltered and crucially found a scoring touch to set up a tantalising last eight clash with France.
Jude Bellingham shone brightest, pulling the strings and having a hand in England’s most effective creative moments.
Here are three things we learned from the game.
It didn’t take long for intensity to drop for Cisse’s charges
Senegal started the game with great gusto, exerting their authority on their opponents, popping the ball around at speed and making England do plenty running but failed to score more goals put the game beyond England during their best moments of the game with their attacking play fizzling out later in the first half and got punished in a dramatic fashion in the dying embers of the half when Jordan Henderson and Harry Kane scored to put the Three Lions ahead.
Their performance especially in the first half showed the Lions of Teranga were a work in progress. Slow at the back, practically non-existent in midfield and overwhelmed in attack. They will surely need time to get to the top.
England’s experience trumped Senegal’s lack of belief
As good as Senegal were at times during the game, they didn’t go for the jugular at any point. It was easy to see Cisse’s plan, stay in the game and pounce at the right moment just as they did in their previous games. They had chances of their own in the first half to have won the day but unfortunately spurned them.
They weren’t bad on the day but were too inexperienced to believe they were capable to go past England and it showed after the interval which led to their defeat.
No Sadio Mane
Aliou Cisse knows he has one of, if not the best player in the world. When one player is out, another of similar quality slots in, a scenario that’s not afforded to most teams.
However, in order to get results especially at this stage, you need your big names playing, and Sadio Mane is just about the biggest of them all. The Bayern Munich man missed the World Cup through an injury he picked while playing for his club.
His absence really affected the Lions of Teranga as they struggled to penetrate the solid English defence albeit a spirited performance. The attacking impetus of the Africans was reduced in his absence. He often starts on the right for Senegal but is given the license to remain high upfield when his team are defending, with the centre-forward instead dropping back to help out defensively.
