England player ratings as stalwart's international career crumbles against Senegal

Independent

a day ago

Thomas Tuchel 's winning start as England manager came to a crushing end as Senegal sealed a shock victory to become the first African side to beat the Three Lions.
Harry Kane gave the hosts an early lead but were pegged back before half-time, with Ismaila Sarr catching Kyle Walker napping to bring parity after Nicolas Jackson worked tirelessly to keep the ball in play.
England failed to pick up the pace after the break and were punished by Habib Diarra as Tuchel's defence was opened up far too easily, with the midfielder slotting through Henderson to send the away end into raptures.
Jude Bellingham then had a late equaliser ruled out by referee Stephanie Rappart for handball before England's fate was sealed in stoppage time, with Cheikh Sabaly finishing off a lightning counter to condemn Tuchel to his first defeat in the England dugout.
It acted as another dire display from England following Saturday's scraped 1-0 win over Andorra, with the final whistle being met by boos from around the City Ground as Tuchel's players slumped off the pitch.
Here are how the England players rated from the 3-1 loss in Nottingham:
Dean Henderson, 6
Kept extremely busy between the sticks due to England's sloppy defence and Senegal's fast paced attacking gameplay. He could not keep out the opener by club teammate Ismaila Sarr, and another by Diarra, but he made a total of six saves throughout the game to prevent Senegal from stretching their lead. They were routine saves but showed maturity and Henderson will be strongly considered as Pickford's understudy.
Kyle Walker, 3
Messy spacing from Walker throughout the game, often running too narrow. Did not anticipate the attacking threats of Sarr and Jackson and was slow to react, leading Sarr to score. Was also booked for a foul on Diouf on his 96th England cap. Lazy and no concentration for a vastly experienced player. At 35, could now easily be consigned to the scrapheap.
Trevoh Chalobah, 6
Some good play from Chalobah and alright at the back on his England debut but not a standout player. There was not much he could do in the lead up to Senegal's first goal, but by dropping too deep and being too slow to catch up with Senegal's counter-attack, he could not defend against the third goal.
Levi Colwill, 4
Failed to impress. Shown a yellow card early on and could not get the momentum to stop Senegal's aggressive press. He made a mistake which Jackson was almost able to capitalize on, but he got lucky. A controversial handball in the box lead to England's equalising goal to be disallowed.
Myles Lewis-Skelly, 4
A few sloppy passes. Had a lot of duels with Ndaiye, but not all were won. He was then found not to be alive to the long ball over the top which led to Senegal's second goal, an instance where he was far too easily beaten by goalscorer Diarra. Subbed.
Conor Gallagher, 6
Performed steadily in midfield, working hard to anchor England's central areas, but was caught out by Senegal's movement at times. He was caught out by Senegal's quick feet in the box, highlighting some defensive vulnerability, though he recovered well on occasion. Subbed.
Declan Rice, 5
A relatively quiet and functional performance, without offering much spark. He did the basics, holding his position and recycled possession, but did not impose himself on the game in the way her often does and gave the ball away, which he was lucky the opposition did not capitalise on. A far from exciting display. Subbed.
Bukayo Saka, 5
Struggled to stamp his authority on the game and found it difficult to break through Senegal's disciplined shape. He did create a chance, bending the ball towards the bottom left corner, but was fingertipped past the post by Mendy. Not an overly impactful performance on the whole. Subbed.
Eberechi Eze 6
One of England's better players on the night. He was full of energy constantly trried to drive forward, unlock Senegal's defence and create chances, demonstrating a willingness to take risks. While his creativity stood out, he was let down by a lack of end product from those around him.
Anthony Gordon, 6
Lively start, forcing the save from Mendy that led to the Kane opener. However, he went on to miss an absolute sitter with the score at 1-0, with his impact further fading as proceedings went on. Subbed.
Harry Kane, 7
Scored his 73rd England goal, a rebound from Gordon's effort, inside seven minutes. Often dropped deep to good effect, but having been the only player on the pitch to start both tonight and on Saturday against Andorra, his game was curtailed early. Subbed.
Substitutes
Morgan Gibbs-White, 6 (58') - changed England's tempo and got stuck in, creating some good chances, but was partly to blame for the Diarra goal due to bad positioning.
Curtis Jones, 4 (59') - an early shot after coming on, but a defensive mistake saw Senegal score their third.
Morgan Rogers, 6 (59') - pounced onto a flick by Eze but unable to fire past Mendy.
Jude Bellingham, 6 (71') - unlucky to see his controversially disallowed goal following a Colwill handball.
Madueke, 4 (71') - no urgency taking a free-kick deep into stoppage time, which failed to even reach the box and subsequently led to Senegal's third goal.
Toney (88') - no time to impact the game once Tuchel finally decided to bring him on.