Midfielder Pathe Ciss feels England were just lucky against wasteful Senegal in their World Cup Round of 16 meeting on Sunday.
Senegal had hoped to make it to the quarter-finals of the prestigious global competition ongoing in Qatar.
However, they were undone by England who won 3-0 to advance to the last eight.
Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane, and Bukayo Saka scored for the Three Lions who are now unbeaten in eight World Cup matches against an African opponent.
Ciss believes the Teranga Lions were punished for failing to take their chances.
: “We lacked realism, against a great team that knows this kind of competition well. It was not a match in which you could have many chances, but you have to be able to score the few chances you have,” Ciss said as quoted by Wiw Sport.
“Otherwise, it can cost you dearly. I think that’s what happened to us in this match, we missed our chances and they scored theirs. We conceded goals because of mistakes that we shouldn’t make at this stage of the competition. We will learn from these mistakes.
“Was there a level difference between the two teams? I don’t think so, because it’s a game we could win. They had two chances which they scored in the first half, while we missed three. If we had scored those chances, the match would have been very different. Luck was on England’s side.”
Senegal will now focus on qualification for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations to be held in Ivory Cost. They are the defending champions after winning their maiden title at the beginning of the year in Cameroon.
The West Africans are leading Group L with maximum points after victories over Benin and Rwanda respectively.
