When Harry Kane said he was happy to link back up with Thomas Tuchel he wasn’t lying.
The England captain has now scored in four straight games under his former Bayern Munich manager – a record for a new Three Lions coach.
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No player has scored in each of an England manager’s first four games before, with Kane’s seventh minute strike against Senegal securing the feat.
The former Tottenham marksman’s tap-in follows efforts against Albania (2-0), Latvia (3-0) and Andorra (1-0).
His goal last time out against Andorra maintained Tuchel’s 100 per cent win rate in his new job, keeping England top of their World Cup qualifying group and equalling Peter Crouch’s previous record of three-straight under Steve McLaren.
Now he’s surpassed that, and did so with ease.
England pressed well to create a turnover from Eberechi Eze, who gave the ball to Conor Gallagher and then it was moved onto Anthony Gordon.
Gordon’s shot was parried by former Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy with Kane in the perfect place to tap in.
The goal was his 73rd in his 107th match for his country.
It was also his 48th in 49 games under Tuchel who managed him at Bayern during the 2022/23 season.
There the pair surprisingly went trophyless in their first season together, but it was no fault of Kane who scored a career-best 44 goals in all competitions.
The striker called the former Chelsea manager a ‘fantastic person and coach’ when links first emerged and then added to that when Tuchel was hired.
“I was surprised, if I’m honest,” he said. “I didn’t expect it. I guess I wasn’t thinking of him as a national team coach.
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“Once it was announced, I was really excited. I had the pleasure of working with him last year, I knew what he could bring to this type of squad that we have.
“We’ve only been together a few days but he hasn’t disappointed and he’s brought exactly what I thought he would.
“Camp after camp, as he settles in and as we get to know him more, we’ll improve as we go, but ultimately it’s about building up until next year.”
Explaining why the pair work so well together, Kane added: “He did get the best out of me last season.
“There’s no real rules to how I play – he sees me as the No 9, the guy to be in the box and score him the goals.
“But there were times in the build-up where I was the guy linking up the play, maybe getting us out of a high-pressure situation.
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“If I did get on the ball, he spoke a lot about having runners for me, the wingers and a No 10 if I did drop.
“This week, he wants a lot of the ball in the opposition half, a lot of counter-pressing, and me being the one in the box and scoring the chances.
“He’s spoken a lot already about getting balls into the box as quickly as we can. Last season I had a really good season with him, this squad’s very different to that of course but I’m excited to start this England chapter with him.”
But Kane’s early goal was as good as it got for the Three Lions on Tuesday night as they went down to a chastening 3-1 defeat to the Lions of Teranga.
Ismaila Sarr equalised for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations winners as he slotted home a cross from the right after getting in front of Kyle Walker.
The away side then got their noses in front through Habib Diarra’s goal on 62 minutes before Cheikh Sabaly completed England’s humiliation in stoppage-time.