Senegal became the first African team to beat England in 22 games on Tuesday, winning 3-1 in a friendly at Nottingham’s City Ground thanks to goals from Ismaïla Sarr, Habib Di,arra and Cheikh Sabaly.
Senegal stretched their unbeaten streak to 24 games, while England’s loss, which included a disallowed late goal from Jude Bellingham for a handball in the build-up, was their first defeat in four games under new manager Thomas Tuchel.
“Not good enough,” captain Harry Kane told ITV. “We had moments, but with and without the ball, things aren’t clicking; we’re not finding the right tempo. We’ve lost that aggressive nature that we had.”
England — with 10 changes from Saturday’s 1-0 lacklustre World Cup qualifying win over Andorra — took the lead when Kane struck in the seventh minute after Senegal goalkeeper Édouard Mendy saved Anthony Gordon‘s shot but spilt the ball into the striker’s path.
The hosts conceded for the first time under Tuchel when Sarr caught Kyle Walker napping to poke in Nicolas Jackson‘s cross in the 40th minute.
The visitors doubled their lead in the 62nd when Diarra latched onto a ball over the top and fired through goalkeeper Dean Henderson‘s legs.
Sabaly struck deep into stoppage time, prompting boos from England fans after the final whistle.
“We’re not going to panic, but we know we need to improve,” Kane said. “New ideas: New players who don’t have experience at the international level are coming into the team.
“It’s a mixture of things, but no excuses. We must find it quickly; the World Cup will come around quickly, so every camp is fundamental right now.”
Senegal peppered Henderson with nine shots on target to England’s four, including an early header from Sarr that the goalkeeper pushed wide of the post.
Gordon squandered a glorious chance to give England a two-goal lead in the first half when he mis-hit Walker’s cross from close range.
Mendy made a great late save to deny England what would have been an equaliser from Bukayo Saka before Senegal added their third.
“Disappointing result, not sure if maybe didn’t deserve a bit more result-wise,” Tuchel said. “But again, I felt a bit frozen, not active enough for a long time during the match.
“We conceded the first two straightforward goals; we needed to defend better. The reaction was good after we were down; suddenly, we were more active, free, fluid, and aggressive towards the opponent’s goals. We had big chances to equalise.”
