England 3-0 Latvia: England fans are all calling out the incredible performance of their player
Tyler Fell
13 – 16 minutes
England were comfortable 3-0 victors over Latvia in their second World Cup qualifier on Monday evening at Wembley Stadium.
Surprisingly, the first big chance of the match came for Latvia and the visitors should have taken the lead. There was a mix-up at the back between Jordan Pickford and Marc Guehi and none of them claimed the ball, which led to Vladislavs Gutkovskis having an open goal to shoot at, albeit from a tight angle, but the big forward fired it wide and squandered a golden opportunity to put his side in a shock 1-0 lead at Wembley.
An England defender just minutes later found themselves in an important area. This time it was Ezri Konsa in the opposition’s box. Jude Bellingham’s header on goal caused a goalmouth scramble and the ball eventually fell to the Aston Villa centre-back, who smashed a shot from close range directly at the Latvia goalkeeper when he probably should’ve buried it into the back of the net.
After knocking on the door constantly for the opening 38 minutes of the match, England finally found the back of the net, and it came through Reece James. The Chelsea right-back slotted a picture-perfect free-kick from around 25 yards right into the top corner and the Latvia goalkeeper was left with absolutely no chance. England had to wait for their goal, but it ended up being well worth the wait.
The first half came to a close with England 1-0 up thanks to an exquisite free-kick from Reece James and even though the hosts only led by a goal, the chances they created deserved a wider lead.
Despite enjoying a dominant first half full of chances, England struggled to get going in the second half and didn’t have their first attempt at goal of the second period until the 63rd minute. Harry Kane and Bellingham produced a good move and the Bayern Munich striker opened his body up and struck a left-footed shot whiskers wide of the post.
Just minutes after Kane went close to scoring, he found the back of the net. Declan Rice played the ball across the box and all Kane had to do was get any type of contact on the ball and he tapped it into the back of the net from about two yards out to double his side’s lead.
Thomas Tuchel’s first substitution of the match saw Eberechi Eze replace Jarrod Bowen, and it is fair to say the change worked as the Crystal Palace man made it 3-0 in the 75th minute with a brilliant individual goal. Eze twisted and turned around several Latvian players and eventually found his shot on goal nestled in the back of the net, albeit thanks to a deflection.
England 3-0 Latvia – Match Statistics
England
Statistic
Latvia
73
Possession (%)
27
27
Shots
3
8
Shots on Target
1
10
Corners
2
1
Saves
5
1
Yellow Cards
2
Match Highlights
England Player Ratings
GK: Jordan Pickford – 6.5/10
Had a shaky start to the match and almost gave away a goal for rushing out of his goal and missing the ball, but after that, he didn’t have much to do at all in terms of both saves and when in possession of the ball.
RB: Reece James – 8.5/10 (Man of the Match)
Scored a beautiful free-kick which nestled perfectly in the top corner and had a good all-round performance. James was dangerous going forward and tidy on the ball.
CB: Ezri Konsa – 7.5/10
Really good in possession of the ball and was never really challenged too much defensively.
CB: Marc Guehi – 7.5/10
Almost cost England a goal early into the match after a mix-up with Pickford, but he bounced back and put in a solid defensive display, not really putting a foot wrong.
LB: Myles Lewis-Skelly – 7.5/10
A calm and composed display from the youngster. Lewis-Skelly saw a lot of the ball down his left flank and was very tidy in possession but wasn’t really challenged defensively.
CM: Declan Rice – 8/10
Rarely misplaced a pass and provided a good assist for England’s second goal by Kane.
CM: Jude Bellingham – 6/10
Quite fortunate to stay on the pitch after putting in a few dangerous challenges. Bellingham didn’t have a particularly good performance and was brought off after 67 minutes.
AM: Morgan Rogers – 8/10
England’s most dangerous and direct attacking threat. Every time the Aston Villa man picked up the ball he looked to dribble and drive forward, which caused Latvia many problems.
RW: Jarrod Bowen – 6/10
Threatened down the right wing during the first half and put in some decent crosses. In the second half, he was switched to the left, which clearly wasn’t working, and he was brought off for Eze after an hour.
ST: Harry Kane – 8/10
Didn’t have much involvement in the match but still managed to get on the scoresheet with a tap-in.
LW: Marcus Rashford – 7.5/10
Put in some very dangerous crosses and was involved pretty much all throughout the match.
SUB: Eberechi Eze – 8/10
Made an instant impact on the match with his pace and dribbling and even managed to get on the scoresheet.
SUB: Phil Foden – 7/10
Provided an assist for Eze’s goal but didn’t do much outside of that.
SUB: Curtis Jones – N/A
Didn’t do much after coming on.
SUB: Jordan Henderson – N/A
Didn’t do much after coming on.
SUB: Kyle Walker – N/A
Didn’t do much after coming on.
Latvia Player Ratings
GK: Krisjanis Zviedris – 5/10
Couldn’t really do anything about any of England’s goals and looked quite erratic when dealing with crosses into his box.
RWB: Roberts Savalnieks – 5/10
Had a really tough time against Rashford in the first half and was taken off early into the second half due to suffering an injury.
CB: Raivis Jurkovskis – 5.5/10
Made some decent blocks and clearances but looked very uncomfortable in one-on-one situations.
CB: Antonijs Cernomordijs – 6.5/10
Decent when in possession of the ball and held his own physically despite coming up against a world-class striker.
CB: Daniels Balodis – 6/10
Defended aggressively, particularly in the first half, in which he had some success, but in the second half, he looked shaky and struggled.
LWB: Andrejs Ciganiks – 6.5/10
Had a relatively decent first-half defending against Bowen and made a few good, aggressive tackles throughout the match.
RM: Alvis Jaunzems – 7/10
Won the majority of his duels, worked really hard and contributed to his side defensively very well.
CM: Aleksejs Saveljevs – 5.5/10
Worked hard and pressed well but couldn’t deal with the quality England possessed.
CM: Dmitrijs Zelenkovs – 5.5/10
Just like his midfield partner, Saveljevs, Zelenkovs worked hard but couldn’t keep up with the quality the home side had.
LM: Janis Ikaunieks – 6/10
Had a good break down the left wing in the first half, but other than that, Ikaunieks didn’t contribute much to the match.
ST: Vladislavs Gutkovskis – 4.5/10
Missed an open goal in the first half and hardly had a touch of the ball all evening.
SUB: Vitalijs Jagodinskis – N/A
Didn’t do much after coming on.
SUB: Eduards Daskevics – N/A
Didn’t do much after coming on.
SUB: Dario Sits – 5/10
Didn’t do much other than get booked and give away lots of cheap fouls.
SUB: Deniss Melniks – N/A
Didn’t do much after coming on.
SUB: Niks Sliede – N/A
Didn’t do much after coming on.
