That’s it from me. Thanks for your company and emails; I’ll leave you with David Hytner’s report.
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Thomas Tuchel's reaction
Disappointing result. We maybe deserved more result-wise but again we felt frozen, not active enough. We defended quite well for a long period in the first half but the first two goals were very easy goals. We need to defend better.
The reaction to going 2-1 down was good and we had our best spel. We were more active, more free, more fluid, more aggressive. We had some big chances to equalise.
[On the disallowed goal] Err, I just saw it. It looks like it’s more the shoulder than the hand. Okay. What I don’t understand is that it’s the first time the referee revisits a goal. Either it’s a mistake, so take it away, or it’s not and it’s a goal. To look at it again and again and again, it’s against the rules, no, or against the sense of law.
[Why did Ivan Toney only come on with three minutes left?] First of all, it was more than three minutes. Second of all, I think Ivan is a specialist for exactly these kinds of situations. We created a lot of chances with Morgan Gibbs-White, with Ebs, with Morgan Rogers and with Jude, all in fluid positions. I think Ivan is the strongest if we have a phase where we put a lot of balls in the box and that was the case.
We got him ready after 80 minutes, then we scored and then they took the gal away so it took longer than we wanted.
Thomas Tuchel should be speaking shortly. On Saturday he gave us a brief impression of Kevin the Teenager. I wonder who we’ll get tonight; Paulie Walnuts or Larry David would be my preference.
Harry Kane's verdict
Again, not really good enough. We had moments but we’re not quite clicking with and without the ball. We were playing against a good side and we got punished.
[On the disallowed goal] If you know the rules it’s not handball. If that goes in it’s 2-2 and maybe we win the game, but that’s something to discuss after.
We’re not gonna panic. We know we need to do better. There are some ideas that are new, some players that are new. It’s a mixture of things but there are no excuse. We need to find [a solution] quickly. The World Cup is gonna come round really fast so every camp is really important.
“Your comment about handballs made me go reread the rules, so thanks for putting me through that,” cries Ted Graves. “The Ifab rule (p. 106) is it is a handball if it is deliberate, or if they have made their body “unnaturally bigger”. You can argue both claims here … a specific example of “deliberate” is “moving towards the ball”, which Colwill arguably did. Did he make himself “unnaturally bigger”? Who knows, what does that even mean? Fun with semantics.”
Semantics make the world go round.
Full time: England 1-3 Senegal
The final whistle is greeted with boos from the crowd at the City Ground. The navel-gazing can come later; for now let’s celebrate a fabulous and historic victory for Senegal, who were the better team – that’s the operative word, and hasn’t it been a good season for teamwork – throughout.
We should also put this result in context; England’s starting XI included only four of their best team. Even so, they were below par and Senegal fully deserved to win.
England didn’t look quite right all night; even when they were 1-0 up, Senegal were the more cohesive team. Mind you, fine margins and all that – Anthony Gordon had an excellent opportunity to make it 2-0.
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90+5 min “Obviously it’s quite funny,” says Gareth, “but why in God’s name is VAR being used in a friendly? I give up.”
Madueke’s poor free-kick was cleared, then Jones was dispossessed and Senegal broke five on three. Camara ran 50 yards before threading a perfect angled pass to the substitute Sabaly, who took a touch and finished crisply back across Henderson. A lovely goal to clinch the first ever victory by an African team against England.
GOAL! England 1-3 Senegal (Sabaly 90+2)
Senegal have made history, and by heaven they deserve it!
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90+1 min A fabulous turn and pass from Gibbs-White, one of the few plusses, sparks a promising move that ends when Madueke runs down a blind alley in the area.
90+1 min Five minutes of added time.
90 min England are running out of time. In the grand scheme it shouldn’t matter, but we all know how corrosive the chat around England can get. As such it’s been a minor stinker of an international break for Thomas Tuchel.
89 min “Yes, Millings, Yes,” says Matt Dony of the half-time, erm, XI. “A million times, Yes. I thought you’d never ask.”
88 min: England substitution Ivan Toney comes on for Myles Lewis-Skelly.
87 min “So,” says David Wall, “did they just bring Ivan Toney along for his subs like an unused Sunday league substitute?”
Nope, he’s coming on for the last three minutes.
NO GOAL! England 1-2 Senegal
86 min My word. For the goal to be disallowed, any handball by a player who doesn’t score the goal has to be deliberate. It looked like Colwill was just twisting in mid-air as he challenged for the ball, but both the VAR official and the referee thought otherwise.
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86 min Ah, the ball hit the top of Colwill’s arm – and now the referee is going to the monitor. The VAR is suggesting Colwill’s handball was deliberate; I’m not so sure.
85 min There’s a VAR check No idea why; we’ll soon find out.
Jude Bellingham has equalised for England. Madueke’s corner from the left hit Colwill and bounced towards Bellingham, who reacted superbly to control the ball on the thigh and slap it past Mendy from six yards.
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GOAL! England 2-2 Senegal (Bellingham 84)
Who else.
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82 min Pape Gueye runs off Bellingham to the edge of the area, but then he throttles a left-foot shot that bounces well wide of the far post.
82 min: Senegal substitution Nicolas Jackson, who has had a really good game and made the equaliser, is replaced by Boulaye Da.
81 min Madueke’s outswinging corner is headed well wide by Bellingham. Not really a chance.
80 min The last man Niakhate makes a risky but well-judged sliding tackle on Rogers in the area. Corner to England…
79 min No sign yet of an England onslaught. Senegal are getting closer to a famous win.
75 min “After the rather drab affair with Andorra, Senegal are providing a much sterner test for Tuchel’s England,” writes Colum Fordham. “Senegal are probing much more and have the athleticism and technique to challenge England. And lo and behold, they take the lead. All part of the learning curve, I suppose.”
Tell that to tomorrow morning’s headlines.
74 min It’s worth reiterating that England have never lost to an African team – no, no, they actually won the Italia 90 quarter-final – so Senegal are about 18 minutes away from an historic victory. And right here, right now, it would be a deserved one.
73 min “Unreserved apology incoming,” says Scott Blair (55 min). “As a matter of mild interest, I see that Phil Neil, Brian Robson and Graeme Rix were playing for England that night. ;)”
There’s no need to apologise, especially with the volume of cock-ups I’ve made tonight.
72 min Jackson smacks an early shot from 25 yards that is pushed away by Henderson, falling to his left. A comfortable enough save but that again stemmed from a successful press in the final third.
71 min: Double substitution for England Jude Bellingham and Noni Madueke on, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka off.
70 min: Double substitution for Senegal Pape Gueye and CHeikh Sabaly replace the goalscorers Habib Diarra and Ismaila Sarr
Lovely save by Mendy!
68 min Gibbs-White, who has energised England since coming off the bench, sets up Saka for a neat early shot that is brushed just round the post by the diving Mendy. That’s an outstanding reaction save.
Big save by Mendy!
65 min Morgan Gibbs-White has a great chance to become the first Nottingham Forest to score for England since Steve Stone at 8.44pm on 12 December 1995. Eze teed him up with a lovely flick, but Gibbs-White leathered an excitable half-volley too close to Mendy.
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64 min “Not good is it?” says Charles Antaki. “Well, let’s look for reasons to be cheerful. In prime position: no brass band. Also: hmm…”
June games, discuss.
Koulibaly curled an excellent long pass down the inside-right channel, taking both Gibbs-White and Lewis-Skelly out of the game. Diarra ran into the area unchallenged and nutmegged Henderson from a tight angle. It was a deliberate finish, and coolly done because everyone expected a pass across the six-yard box.
GOAL! England 1-2 Senegal (Diarra 62)
Senegal are in front!
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60 min England are now playing a kind of 4-2-4-0 with Eze and Rogers as the central attackers. Ivan Toney’s internal monologue would be interesting to hear.
All three subs are involved in an effervescent move that ends with Jones shooting over from 25 yards.
59 min “I’m watching England dismantle the West Indies, so I’m following this match on Twitter,” says Gary Naylor. “The consensus appears to be that Pickford was at fault for the Senegal goal - and what’s more trustworthy than the wisdom of crowds?”
A year ago I’d have been certain this was a joke.
59 min: Triple substitution for England Curtis Jones, Morgan Rogers and the local hero Morgan Gibbs-White replace Anthony Gordon, who faded after a good start, Harry Kane and Conor Gallagher.
57 min A promising run from Jackson ends with a square pass that is well read by Rice. He’s had to put our several fires tonight, a reflection of a difficult evening for England.
55 min “Dunno,” says Scott Blair. “If you can spell Aki Riihilahti and Jerzy Brzeczek correctly, getting Alan Hansen right shouldn’t really be a problem. Sorry! ;)”
So why didn’t you? Sorry!
(I can’t bring myself to type a smiley face but please know that my response is entirely friendly. Okay, 99 per cent friendly, 1 per cent smug.)
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54 min Kane has his ankles bitten not once but twice by Camara, who would probably have been booked in a competitive fixture. I mean, this is competitive, endearingly so for a friendly, but you know what I mean.
52 min “‘England will surely at some stage need to beat one of the other seven World Cup winners in a knockout game. The last time they did outside England was [checks notes, shrieks a bit] 1962,’” says Joe Stynes, quoting some nonsense I wrote earlier.
“In the 1962 World Cup, England beat Argentina in the group stage and lost to Brazil in the quarterfinal. A search of almost five Wikipedia pages suggests they have never beaten any of the other seven World Cup winners in a knockout match outside England, although they did beat Spain in both legs (Wembley and Bernabéu) of their Euro 1968 quarterfinal.”
I did say I wasn’t well! (Thank you for cleaning up my metaphorical mess.)
Another chance for Senegal!
50 min Camara guides a superb pass out to Diouf, whose first-time cross is equally good. Diarra meets it near the penalty spot but half-volleys high and wide on the run. That was lovely play from Senegal, who have a real chance to make history by becoming the first African team to beat England.
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47 min “Can I be the first to say sack Tuchel?” says Pete Salmon. “Remember this in two and a half years’ time.”
I can’t promise I will: Tuchel’s contract only runs till next July, so by Christmas 2027 we’ll probably be onto some other poor sod.
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46 min No half-time substitutions on either side; Eberechi Eze gets the second half going.
Half-time entertainment (sic)
“Rob Dearest,” begins Mac Millings, and that’s rarely a good sign. “Inspired – if that’s the right word (and it’s not) – by Simon McMahon’s suggestion a few days ago, please allow me to present my All-Time Chat Up Lines XI. Regular readers will not be surprised to find that McMahon’s contributions are the best two.
I’m glad I brought my library card, because I’m Petr Čeching you out
Fabio Canna-buy you a drink?
If you and I were socks, we’d make a great Per Mertesacker.
Are you always this hot, or do I just have a Dan Burn?
Are you a thief? Because you John Stollmeyer heart
I need a map, because I just got lost in Youreyes Tielemans
If I said you had a beautiful body, would Rick Holden against me?
I must be a time traveller, because I can see you in my Paulo Futre
Do you know what’s on the menu? La Me-n-U Yamal
Desiré Doué come here often?
Is that a Nwankwo Kanu in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me?
Sub: Did an Angel Gomes fall from heaven?
Coach: I need an oxygen mask, because you just Thomas Tuchel my breath away.
Half-time reading
Half time: England 1-1 Senegal
That was fun half to watch, if not necessarily to play in for England’s second string. Harry Kane, the only survivor from the Andorra game, gave them an early lead but Senegal were the more cohesive side and Ismaila Sarr’s equaliser didn’t come as a surprise.
45+1 min Two minutes of added time.
45 min That’s the first goal England have conceded under Thomas Tuchel, so Ismaila Sarr joins a club that includes Allan Hansen, Tony Cascarino, Samir Nasri, Iago Aspas, Ilie Dumitrescu, Aki Riihilahti and Jerzy Brzeczek.
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44 min Walker takes out his frustration on Diouf and is booked.
A long, straight pass down the inside-right channel was reached near the byline by Jackson, who hooked a dangerous first-time ball into the middle. Sarr got in front of Walker, who was on his heels, and finished decisively from eight yards. That’s a well-worked goal, although Walker will know he could have done better.
GOAL! England 1-1 Senegal (Sarr 40)
A deserved equaliser for Senegal.
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39 min Malick Diouf, the young Slavia Prague left-back who has dominated Saka, again wins the ball high up the field to spark a Senegal attack. Diouf is 20 years old, and he’s coming to a transfer rumour near you soon.
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Another good save by Henderson
36 min Ndiaye, on the left side of the area this time, tries to tee up the onrushing Gueye with a square pass. It’s slightly overhit but Gueye does well to retrieve the ball and force a shot through the crowd from 15 yards. Henderson plunges to his right to beat it away. That’s probably his best save yet as he saw it late.
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34 min A quiet few minutes.
31 min Camara’s free-kick is headed away at the far post by Chalobah, who has started well on debut.
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30 min Jackson, 30 yards from goal, loses Colwill with a gorgeous first touch and is brought down. Yellow card for Colwill.
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Excellent chance for Gordon!
28 min Saka frees Walker, who looks up and shapes a terrific ball across the face of goal. Eze dummies/misses the ball at the near post and Gordon shoots fractionally wide at the far.
At first it looked a bad miss but on reflection he was under a lot pressure from the sliding Diatta, and the cross was fractionally behind him. Still a good chance mind.
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27 min A quiet spell. It’s still an even game, with Senegal continuing to challenge England via the press. It feels like England are slowly working it out, though, and another goal in transition wouldn’t come as a complete surprise.
24 min “When you say this game has a standalone appeal,” says Alex Netherton, “is that the same standalone appeal you have when propped up with a sausage roll in Greggs?”
How the hell do you know about my Tinder profile pic?
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22 min It’s been a good start to the game – open, competitive and enjoyable to watch. England friendlies are not always worth a damn; the first quarter of this game has been worth several.
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20 min Anthony Gordon has started the game well, particularly in transition. He isn’t as highly regarded as many in the squad but his pace and directness offer something England have been missing for a while.
Time to make him captain for me.
18 min Rice drives the free-kick low and into the crowd at the near post, one from the training ground you’d imagine. But on this occasion it’s booted clear by a defender.
17 min Diatta sends Gordon flying just outside the area and is booked by the referee Stephanie Frappart. That definitely wasn’t a dive by Gordon.
15 min: Good save by Henderson! Senegal work the ball classily from right to left, where Diouf curls an excellent first-time cross. Sarr gets between the two centre-backs and powers a downward header that is pushed round the post by the diving Henderson. Sarr’s header wasn’t right in the corner but that was still a pretty good save.
12 min Corner to England on the left. Chalobah and Jackson, club teammates, start tugging each other, promoting the referee to have a quick word.
Rice’s corner is headed away.
11 min Senegal again win the ball in the England half, which soon leads to a rising drive from distance by Diarra (I think). Henderson pushes it up in the air and claims at the second attempt.
10 min That’s Kane’s 73rd goal for England, which puts him one clear of Richie Tenenbaum.
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Gallagher and Eze won possession 30 yards from goal, then combined to give Gordon a shooting chance just inside the area. His shot wriggled out of Mendy’s grasp and was tapped into the empty net by Kane.
GOAL! England 1-0 Senegal (Kane 7)
Harry Kane gives England the lead against the run of play.
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6 min I should have said that Senegal has started with Ndiaye on the right, where that chance originated, and Sarr on the left.
5 min: Good save by Henderson! Lovely move by Senegal. Ndiaye cuts inside from the right, beating Gallagher with a nice piece of footwork, and reverses a short pass into the area for Jackson. He drills a low shot from the angle that is kicked away by Henderson.
4 min Senegal have started well, pressing aggressively and pinning England in their half.
3 min Eze has started high up the field for England, essentially as a second striker. Imagine if England won the World Cup playing a rigid 4-4-2. In the parlance of our times, I’m here for it.
2 min Idrissa Gueye drills a routine 20-yarder that is easily saved by Henderson.
2 min ITV’s Sam Matterface reminds us that England have never lost to an African team. For a split-second I thought he was wrong, then I remembered that England won the Italia 90 quarter-final against Cameroon. To this day, I know not how.
1 min Senegal, in green, kick off from right to left as we watch.
The players are running late, so kick-off will be around 7.50pm.
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A few of you have pointed out that I originally had Aliou Cisse, not Pape Thiaw, managing Senegal. Apologies for that. “Not the glorious return I hoped!” says Scott Rutherford.
I may as well apologise in advance for the errors I’ll make once the match begins. My health isn’t great at the moment so my brain is even slower than usual, but I’ll do my best. It’s not an excuse, it’s a reason!
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Reasons to wish every human being on the planet was like Bukayo Saka, No294815
Tucker the cockapoo arrived while Saka was rehabilitating from surgery. “It was a bit tough at first because he’s a puppy and I couldn’t really get after him. But it was a good experience.”
There was also more time for reading. One book in particular, Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, struck a chord. “I read nonfiction,” Saka says. “One of the books I was given by Carlos [Cuesta, Mikel Arteta’s assistant coach] was called The Power of Now. A really good book. It’s about not thinking about the past, not thinking about the future, just being in the moment and always asking yourself what’s necessary right now.
This is a good piece from Jonathan Wilson on why Thomas Tuchell is so keen to have Jordan Henderson around
The details of Henderson’s performance against Andorra are largely irrelevant. Some players thrive against minnows, some struggle in a game very different from the high-level fixtures with which they are more familiar. How you play against Andorra is not going to determine whether you have a part in a potential World Cup-winning side. But one recovery run to stymie an Andorra counter after Dan Burn had lost possession caught the eye; Henderson, at least, was switched on. And it was after he was substituted after 63 minutes that England slipped into the individualism that so annoyed Tuchel.
Henderson is a professional, the non-commissioned officer maintaining discipline and morale, ensuring the plan is followed and standards maintained. He has captained a team that won the league and the Champions League. During the Covid lockdown, he emerged as a de facto spokesperson for the players. He has the respect of his peers. And that is no small thing.
One of Thomas Tuchel’s biggest challenges is to stop English football’s never-ending arm-wrestle with a self-loathing subconscious.
The scale of that challenge is shown by one slightly clunky statistic. If they are to win the World Cup, England will surely at some stage need to beat one of the other seven World Cup winners in a knockout game. The last time they did outside England was [checks notes, shrieks a bit] 1962.
Senegal team news
Pape Thiaw has named a strong side, which includes seven past and present Premier League players – and probably a couple of the future as well. The front three of Ismaila Sarr, Nicolas Jackson and Iliman Ndiaye should kept England’s defence honest.
Senegal (possible 4-3-3) E Mendy; Diatta, Koulibaly, Niakhate, M Diouf; Diarra, Idrissa Gueye (Everton), L Camara; Sarr, Jackson, I Ndiaye.
Substitutes: M Camara, Y Diouf, I Camara, Seck, Dia, Sabaly, C Ndiaye, Jakobs, Niasse, Idrissa Gueye (Metz), Sima, Diaw, A Mendy, P Gueye.
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England team news: Tuchel makes 10 changes
Thomas Tuchel has changed all bar one of the team that started against XI. The odd man in is the captain Harry Kane. It was probably part of the plan all along; either that or he’s channelling his inner John Sitton.
Chelsea centre-back Trevoh Chalobah is the most notable inclusion; he makes his international debut alongside his club teammate Levi Colwill.
England (4-2-3-1) Henderson; Walker, Chalobah, Colwill, Lewis-Skelly; Gallagher, Rice; Saka, Eze, Gordon; Kane.
Substitutes: Pickford, James, Konsa, Gibbs-White, Henderson, Bellingham, Burn, Toney, Alexander-Arnold, Jones, Rogers, Madueke, Palmer, Trafford.
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to the City Ground the Guardian liveblog bunker for live coverage of England v Senegal at the City Ground. Thomas Tuchel isn’t in the business of selling tickets or building hype, but his unsparing appraisal of England’s performance against Andorra – Kevin the Teenager tribute included – has increased the interest in what could otherwise have been just another friendly.
This is only the second meeting between the sides, a slight surprise given their status in world football. The first was in the last 16 of Qatar 2022, when England surged to a 3-0 victory after an even first 35 minutes.
The next World Cup is the endgame for Tuchel and England, but tonight’s match has a standalone appeal that probably wasn’t there 72 hours ago.
Kick off 7.45pm.
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