FIFA World Cup Round of 16 : England vs Senegal

 England continued their good form in this tournament, as they outclassed a resilient Senegal 3-0 in the round of 16, to book a place in the quarterfinals where they will meet reigning champions France in what promises to be a humdinger of a contest. 

After struggling to find their winning rhythm, England finally broke the deadlock, in the 38th minute, when Kane dropped deep to release the ball to teenage sensation Bellingham who sprinted through the Senegalese defenders & put the ball in the box from where, Hendersen cooly tapped the ball with his left foot past a flailing keeper Edouard Mendy into the net, as England went up 1-0. Senegal had been hardly threatened before that & in fact they had enjoyed the better of the exchanges till then. Earlier, Senegal had sliced through the English defense, when Diatta's cross was mishit by Dia & Sarr rushing in with keeper Pickford at his mercy, blasted the ball over the net. Minutes later there was another reprieve for England, when a poor pass from Saka deep their own right flank, was latched onto by Sarr, & he cut into the edge of the box & found Dia, whose stinging left footer was parried out by the outstretched palm of Pickford in a fantastic reflex action, as the side heaved a sigh of relief. Hendersen's goal after this, seemed to lift the English spirits, while the Africans looked a bit deflated. In the dying seconds of the 1st half, it was Bellingham again, who latched on to a loose ball deep in their own half & sprinted past Senegalese players through the middle at will & then sweetly passed onto Foden on the left flank, who in turn unselfishly pushed the ball to an unmarked Harry Kane, who gleefully thundered the ball past a hapless Mendy to rattle back of the net & put England up 2-0, as half time whistle blew. This was Harry Kane's first strike in this World Cup. It was a sublime combination of football to give England complete control of the game. England have scored 5 first half goals in four games, the most by any team in this World Cup & all of them have come around just after the half hour mark. 

2nd half, saw England relish the lead & attack, as Senegal looked more & more deflated, In then just around the hour mark, England made it 3-0, as Foden in his customary run down the left wing dribbled down the byline & fired the ball across the face of the net & Saka running in from the other side, coolly lifted the ball over Mendy & into the back of the net, as the Three Lions led 3-0. Saka's goal was the 12th in the tournament for England so far, in just four games, equaling their entire score from 2018 edition - remarkable statistics to look at. Barring the toiling goal less draw with USA in the group stages, tis team has scored at will till now, turning on the heat for the opposition. From there on, England just kept Senegal attacks at bay & occasionally threatened to increase the margin, as the full time whistle sealed their passage into the last 8, & end of Senegal's journey in this World Cup. Senegal badly missed the presence of their mercurial forward Sadio Mane, who was sidelined for injury just before the World Cup. 

Meanwhile, with Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Rashford & teenage sensation Bellingham in rich vein of form, the Three Lions are in ominous form to face France for a place in the semis ahead. Should be a cracker of a game for sure, as strategies & playing skills on the day will decide probably.