Credit: Imago

Scott Mason

Sun 29 March 2026 11:56, UK

Pape Matar Sarr was only able to get minutes off the bench for Senegal against Peru, but Tottenham Hotspur officials will be delighted with that outcome.

With the relegation battle likely to continue heating up following the international break, the Lilywhites will be hoping their stars come back as fit as possible.

Alongside Leeds, Tottenham have the joint-most international call-ups among the relegation battlers.

With Spurs having plenty of injuries already this season, that figure only further places stress on their squad depth.

With that in mind, Sarr’s limited performance is a rare positive of this international break ahead of Tottenham’s fixture schedule.

How did Pape Matar Sarr perform after coming on for Senegal?

Tottenham will have breathed a sigh of relief to see that midfielder Sarr was not overloaded with minutes while away with Senegal.

Since February, the midfielder has been a key figure for Tottenham, starting six of their last eight Premier League matches.

While the Tottenham player would have been seeking to start for the Lions for the first time since the African football confederation, CAF, stripped them of the AFCON trophy, he did not get his chance.

Instead, Sarr featured for just 10 minutes against Peru but, when on the ball, did little wrong.

The Spurs midfielder completed 100 per cent of his nine passes attempted, keeping things simple and effective. Additionally, he made just 11 touches in his cameo as per Sofascore.

Sarr did end up getting dribbled past once in that time, while also losing the only duel that he competed in. However, officials at Hotspur Way will only care about the minutes played.

Spurs will hope for minimal Sarr impact in Senegal’s next match

Sarr could have his chance to start for Senegal this international break when his nation takes on Gambia on 31 March.

Hope will be that the midfielder comes out unscathed if manager Pape Thiaw opts to rotate. With these fixtures being friendlies, there is every chance that multiple changes will be made.

With injuries to Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison at Tottenham already hampering them this season, no more are needed.

As well as the boost of the return of Rodrigo Bentancur expected after the international break, picking up more injuries would be far from ideal in midfield right now.

Tottenham will certainly be hoping that Senegal do them another favour with Sarr playing as few minutes as possible once again.