Kane rescues England in front of Congo (2-1), and will face Mexico in octaves
Cipenga put the Democratic Republic of the Congo ahead in the first few minutes, and African goalkeeper Mpasi made several stops, but two goals from the Bayern Munich striker led to a comeback in the last quarter of an hour.
Kane's celebration after his second goal. Photo: EFE
Captain Harry Kane avoided the surprise this Wednesday by rescuing\ u00A0 England who won the World Cup Final 16. Kane overturned the match against the Democratic Republic of Congo with two goals. Thomas Tuchel's players responded to the opening goal of the Africans and ended up winning 2-1.
The Congo has come out bolder than expected, with four power stations on the pitch and not five, and has not given up taking the lead at first.
Before England decided whether or not to relinquish the baton to Desabre's footballers, a long ball that sought the back of the defenses ended up at Cipenga's feet on the left side of the area.
The former Castellon player, now in Almeria, has overtaken Pickford with a shot from below. The English goalkeeper has been able to do more, so the English have had their first adverse score in this World Cup, and they had a bad historical record; since the 1966 final, England has never won a playoff match if they got the first goal.
The next 15 minutes have been a showcase of English nervousness, but England has recovered the thread with a break in hydration, and in less than half an hour Rice has found Bellingham -The head of the midfielder of Real Madrid has been stopped by Mpasi.
Then the Tuchel created another great opportunity, but a defender pulled Rashford's header out of the door. They were the best minutes of the Three Lions, even though they were still soft under pressure without a ball. Then another big scare camefrom theEnglish, as Wissa sent the ball to the post . It was the clearest opportunity for the Africans to score the second goal.
A few seconds later, with the English fans still fearing in their bodies, a leaked ball left Kane in front of the African goalkeeper and the English captain fell into the area, feeling little contact with Mpasi.
Before the break the Congolese goalkeeper had time to make two more excellent stops, first in front of another clean head of Bellingham and then in response to Kane 's punch after a corner.
The second half started in a similar way, as Le Havre's goalkeeper in France was forced to clear a left-handed Bellingham who was poisoned after hitting Wan-Bisakka.
With more people in the Congo area, the English strategy of finally placing the balls within the area has worked. Kane has taken advantage of a Gordon center to split his head when a quarter of an hour had yet to be played.
England has continued to press on the legs of the Africans asfatigue has begun to emerge, and five minutes before the end, Bellingham has been left to step on the left.
Mpasi struck again, but in the second play the ball ended at Kane's feet. Kane made room for himself to throw a punch in a row. Mpasi was unable to do anything. The English captain continued to increase his shadow today with two more goals (he had already scored fiveWorld Cup).
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