In the fourth round of 16 match of the ongoing FIFA 2022 World Cup, England convincingly beat Senegal 3-0 to smoothly advance through to the Quarterfinals for the second time in a row to face off against defending champions France. The match was almost entirely dominated by the Bits that saw goals by Henderson and Captain Kane to put them ahead in the first half. This was followed by a third one by Saka in the second half to clinch a clean sweep victory over Senegal.
Senegal kicked things off in the first half and tried to create early pressure on the Brits with crisp calculated passes around the field making steady attempts to score the opening goal. Harry Maguire was beaten by pace as Senegal’s Dia created an early chance to score in the 6th minute. However, he failed to produce a shot on goal and the ball was collected by goalkeeper Pickford.
Soon after the early onslaught by Senegal, England began dominating possession, creating a couple of goal-scoring chances. Both teams have launched decent counterattacks although England and Senegal are yet to take the first shot on goal. Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane began breaking through the shackles and fired a couple of attacks at the Senegal goal. Kane came close to creating a masterpiece assist when he sent a tremendous left-footed cross into the box but Saka failed to make contact.
A poor pass by Saka at around 30 minutes was intercepted by Dia, who made the first promising attempt to score for Senegal sending in a strong shot that was blocked by Pickford. After a sluggish start at the Al Bayt Stadium, England burst into life in the lst 15 minutes of the first half. 39 minutes into the game, England finally got their opening goal after Jordan Henderson scored following a brilliant cross by Jude Bellingham.
3 minutes were added to the first half which saw captain Harry Kane fire a magnificent shot in the final minute to bring in the second goal for his team as the referee blew the whistle to end the first half with England leading Senegal 2-0. This was Kane’s first goal of this tournament. A welcome goal for the captain to end his goalless drought at FIFA 2022.
As the second half went underway, the action kept going back-and-forth between both the teams. Senegal desperately trying to score their opener and England looking for their third. 57 minutes into the match ace striker Bukayo Saka joined the party for England as his shot finally finds the nets, giving England a 3-0 lead over the opponents. A comeback strike by Saka to redeem himself after a sluggish pass by him in the first half almost gave Senegal their first goal.
Senegal were reeling behind and were now almost certain to be facing a defeat, with only about 30 minutes left to level the gap or take a lead. Considering how England was playing at this point, both the options seemed impossible for Senegal. However, the Africans did try to fight back with Diedhiou, Gueye, Sarr, and Bamba making promising attempts to score for Senegal, but all of it went in vain as the match eventually ended with the referee’s final whistle to give England the victory.
In the end, it was a smooth victory for Team England. Goals in the first half from Jordan Henderson and captain Harry Kane set the British Lions on their way; Bukayo Saka rounded things off with a third to seal their fate. Following their 3-0 victory over Senegal, England will now play France on December 10 for a chance to advance to the semifinals.
Stay tuned to H3bet as we bring you every detail of these high-octane events, scandals, news, and updates from the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022!