Harry Kane hit out at the decision to deny England a late equaliser against Senegal, claiming ‘if you know the rules it’s not handball’.
The Three Lions suffered their first-ever defeat to an African side on Tuesday night, going down 3-1 thanks to goals from Ismalia Sarr, Habiba Diarra and a 93rd-minute clincher from Cheikh Sabaly.
However, minutes before Sabaly’s strike, England thought they had found an equaliser when Jude Bellingham prodded the ball home from close range following a ricochet in the Senegal area.
The home side believed their blushes were spared and were ready to push for a winner but following a VAR review referee Stephanie Frappart was advised to take a second look at the incident.
She subsequently chalked off the effort even though replays showed that, despite the ball hitting Levi Colwill’s arm, it was not intentional nor was he the scorer – conditions that would normally merit cancellation.
Post-match, Kane, who got England off to the perfect start with his 73rd international goal, slammed the decision which he was adamant was incorrect.
Harry Kane hit out at the decision to deny England a late equaliser against Senegal on Tuesday night
England were penalised for the ball hitting Levi Colwill’s arm just before Jude Bellingham’s strike
Three Lions players fiercely plead their case as referee Stephanie Frappart reviewed the incident
‘If you know the rules it’s not handball,’ he told ITV. ‘It would have got us back in the game at 2-2 and maybe we would have gone on and won the game so it’s quite a big moment.
‘But that’s something to discuss with them after.’
ITV pundit and former England striker Ian Wright was in agreement with the Three Lions skipper and labelled the call ‘pathetic’.
‘It’s not deliberate though,’ argued Wright. ‘It’s pathetic. He’s not even looking. How can you give that? For them to disallow that goal is crazy.’
After the final whistle, Bellingham was seen darting over to the linesman to complain about the disallowed goal, before angrily kicking a drinks cooler. Kane was forced to push him onto the pitch to calm down and congratulate Senegal.
In spite of the peculiar decision, Kane was reluctant to use it as an excuse on a concerning night for the World Cup hopefuls.
Tuchel, who took charge in January on an 18-month contract ending after the next year’s tournament, was desperate to see improvement after his side’s lacklustre 1-0 win over minnows Andorra on Saturday.
But after making 10 changes to the side, he was left frustrated as England were outsmarted by their opponents.
Former England striker Ian Wright labelled the decision ‘pathetic’ as he disagreed with the ‘crazy’ call
Thomas Tuchel suffered his first defeat as England manager just days after seeing his squad earn a narrow victory over minnows Andorra
On whether he is worried about England’s performances during the international break, Kane added:’We’ll we’re not going to panic but for sure, we know that we need to be better.
‘There are some ideas that are new for the guys, we have new players coming into the team who don’t have experience at the international level.
‘It’s a mixture of things but there are no excuses. We need to find it quickly, we’re not going to meet again for a few months but the World Cup is going to come around very fast so every camp is really important right now.’
