English... in their match, they beat Senegal 3-0

Present in the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the second time in a row (in Russia in 2018 it reached the top four) will be England, which in the fourth match of the "16" stage of the Qatar tournament comfortably won 3-0 against Senegal in Al Bayt of Al Kor.

With Jude Bellingham (at the age of 19 years and 158 days, the Dortmund ace became the second youngest player to start for England in a World Cup knockout match, after Michael Owen, who in 1998 against Argentina was only 18 years old and 198 days) and Phil Foden distributing assists (one first, two second) and Henderson, Kane, Xhaka making use of their teammates' passes, the "Three Lions" managed to easily qualify for the quarter-finals, where they await the world champions, France (Saturday at 21:00).

Senegal's attempt to reach the "8" of the World Cup after 20 years was not crowned with success. Aliou Cisse's side held their own on the pitch for 38 minutes, but from the moment they conceded the first goal, they collapsed and surrendered unconditionally.

The African side threatened in the 4th minute, with Dia driving towards Pickford's goal, but at the last minute he lost control of the ball before he could score.

The match had a slow tempo, as England's players tried, keeping the ball at their feet longer, to impose their pace. Outside the Senegal area, however, everything was over for the "Three Lions", as apart from Bellingham, the rest of the midfield and attack players could not "find" each other.

21 minutes went by without an end to the match for the two teams, with England making the first move, but Stones' header from Foden's corner went wide. Two minutes later Senegal missed the first big chance of the game.

Maguire's mistake outside the area saw a cross into the heart of the English defence, Dia tried to shoot on the move to threaten but the ball stopped on the body of Stones.

The trailing Saar threw himself into her path and with a shot from very close he failed to score and we still have no final effort for either team.

Another great phase for the Africans in the 32nd minute, with Pickford keeping a clean sheet with a great intervention on Dia's strong shot from inside the area. Against the flow of the game, England opened the scoring in the 38th minute.

In their first organized attacking effort, the Southgate team changed the ball nicely, Kane gave it to Bellingham and the latter with an assist... half a goal gave Henderson the opportunity to put Mendy (1-0) in an exemplary manner from the penalty spot.

The goal gave "wings" to the English, who also scored a second goal in the delays of the first half (45΄+3), with Harry Kane "opening an account" in the tournament.

In a quick counterattack, Bellingham passed to Foden, who "served" a ready goal to the National captain and the latter did not miss. Kane reached 52 goals in 79 appearances for his country (11 in major competitions, including 4 at the Euros and 7 at the World Cup) and moved into second place on the all-time goalscoring list, one behind Wayne Rooney, who is at the top (in 120 matches).

England dominated the pitch in the second half and it didn't take long to make it 3-0 and end the match. Again from Foden's assist, in the 57th minute, Saka increased the score, with his third goal of the competition.

Source: RES-EAP