Senegal Stuns England with Surprising Away Victory, Increasing Pressure on Thomas Tuchel

England faced a disheartening 3-1 loss to Senegal in a friendly match at home on Tuesday, intensifying the pressure on manager Thomas Tuchel as the World Cup approaches in a year’s time.

Goals from Ismaila Sarr, Habib Diarra, and Cheikh Sabaly marked England’s inaugural defeat against an African nation at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, following an early lead from Harry Kane.

Tuchel was particularly critical of his team’s lacklustre performance, having squeezed past Andorra with a mere 1-0 win in World Cup qualifying just three days prior.

The German manager, whose mission is to end England’s 1966 title drought, endured his first defeat after four matches at the helm.

“We need to see how the players perform under these circumstances against one of the top 20 teams globally to be smarter,” Tuchel remarked.

“We’re not heading to the World Cup next week; we have a year to prepare.”

In response to the defeat, Tuchel made significant alterations to the lineup, retaining Kane as the sole consistent presence.

It took only seven minutes for the Bayern Munich forward to extend his record of scoring in every match since Tuchel’s appointment.

Edouard Mendy, the former Chelsea goalkeeper, should have done better when he parried Anthony Gordon’s shot directly into Kane’s path, allowing him to net his 73rd international goal.

Dean Henderson was handed a rare opportunity to make an impact in goal, while Jordan Pickford warmed the bench.

The Crystal Palace keeper produced notable saves against his club team-mate Sarr and Idrissa Gana Gueye.

However, he was powerless to prevent Sarr from capitalising on Kyle Walker’s lapse in concentration, meeting Nicolas Jackson’s cross to slot the ball into the bottom corner.

Having not lost to African opponents in 21 prior matches, England faced a Senegal side that had only been defeated once in open play since their encounter with the Three Lions in the 2022 World Cup.

“Not good enough. We had our moments, but both with and without the ball, we’re not connecting well; we need to find the right rhythm,” Kane said. “We’ve lost that aggressive nature we once had.”

Diarra exploited a large gap to dart behind the England defence and pushed the ball through Henderson’s legs to give Senegal the lead shortly after the hour mark.

Mendy redeemed himself for his earlier mishap with impressive saves against Bukayo Saka and Morgan Gibbs-White, denying England a quick equaliser.

With time running out, England thought they had equalised when Jude Bellingham netted from a corner. However, the goal was disallowed due to a handball by Levi Colwill just before Bellingham scored.

Seizing the opportunity, Senegal secured a remarkable victory in stoppage time as Sabaly capped off a well-executed counter-attack.

Discontented boos echoed from the home crowd, leaving Tuchel with much to contemplate before England’s next match in September.