England 1-3 Senegal: Sabaly wraps up historic win over lacklustre hosts | OneFootball

Thomas Tuchel lost as England manager for the first time at the City Ground, with Senegal picking up an historic win against a side they’d never previously beaten.

Things got off to a bright start as Harry Kane tapped home from close-range, but chances were few and far between afterwards, with Ismaïla Sarr finding the equaliser just before the break. It was Senegal who looked the better side and that proved in the second period, when they went ahead for the first time in the game.

A clever finish from Habib Diarra put Senegal ahead in the 62nd minute, before there was yet more frustration for England as Bellingham had a goal chalked off. To round off a night of English disappointment, Cheikh Tidiane Sabaly then secured victory for the visitors in stoppage time. Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, there needs to be a lot of improvements if England want any chance of competing against the likes of Argentina, Portugal and Spain.

As it happened

Dean Henderson was called into action twice early on, denying efforts from both Idrissa Gueye and Nicolas Jackson. It didn’t take long for the deadlock to be broken, however it was down the other end despite the visitors’ bright start.

England were ruthless with their first opportunity of the game, as Kane found the back of the net in the seventh minute. Eberechi Eze won the ball high up the pitch, before offloading to Conor Gallagher. His lay-off was met first time by Anthony Gordon, with Édouard Mendy only able to push it into the path of Kane, who had the easiest of finishes to grab his 73rd England goal, and his fourth in as many games under Tuchel. New manager, same old Harry Kane.

Senegal remained dangerous on the attack, with Henderson needed once more. Sarr’s header looked destined to find the bottom corner, but the England goalkeeper was able to claw it out for a corner.

England should then have had their second of the night. Kyle Walker delivered an inviting cross to the back-post from the right-hand side, with the arriving Gordon looking guaranteed to tap home. However, the Newcastle winger squandered the huge chance, leaving him with his head in his hands.

Despite it being a much improved opening half from Tuchel’s side, Senegal continued to generate chances, with Gueye having another opportunity to find the back of the net, this time being off-balance and seeing his effort stopped down low by Henderson, who saw it late.

On the 40th minute mark, Senegal found a deserved equaliser courtesy of Sarr, and England couldn’t say there weren’t warning signs. Jackson did extremely well on the byline to cut his cross back to the Crystal Palace winger, who beat Walker to the ball to fire in the leveller. There were already doubts over the right back’s spot in the team, and his defending for the goal certainly won’t help his case.

It was the first goal conceded for England under Tuchel. The equaliser from Senegal was the last significant action of the half, with the score 1-1 heading into the break, and England would have been disappointed with how the half tailed off.

England lacked intensity in the second period, being unable to create any clear cut chances, and were punished in the 62nd minute as Senegal found their second of the night to go in front at the City Ground. Yet again, it was poor defending from England, with Diarra the beneficiary. He raced through on the right after a simple ball over the top, completely unmarked, before delivering a clever finish that went through the legs of Henderson to find the far corner.

England looked to respond immediately, with the ball dropping kindly to Morgan Gibbs-White, but his effort on the volley was denied by Mendy, who stood strong. The goal from Senegal had finally awoken England in the second half, with Bukayo Saka forcing Mendy into producing a fabulous save, tipping his effort on the turn around the post.

Bellingham looked to have come to the rescue for England, stabbing home from the corner, after the ball fell kindly to the Real Madrid man. However, after a VAR check, the goal was ruled out as it struck the arm of Levi Colwill in the process of falling to Bellingham. It was more frustration for England and Tuchel in what had been a disappointing evening.

In the second minute of stoppage time, Senegal wrapped up victory with a third goal on the break, capping off a brilliant evening for Pape Bouna Thiaw’s side. Lamine Camara broke away on the right, outnumbering England, and unselfishly found Sabaly, whose composed finish secured an historic win for the African side. It was jubilation for the visitors. Meanwhile, there were boos from the home crowd.

Senegal secured their first ever win over England and extended their unbeaten run to 22 games, becoming the first ever African team to beat The Three Lions. As for England, it was the bitter taste of defeat for the first time under Tuchel.

The lineups