The Thomas Tuchel England era continues tonight at Wembley as the Three Lions take on Latvia for the very first time in a World Cup qualifier.
As anticipated, England dominated the ball in the opening periods but had little in the way off chances with the Latvians defending very deep and in numbers.
Marcus Rashford, looking to impress after a mixed showing against Albania, whipped a ball in from the left just after 15 minutes, leading to both Morgan Rogers and Jarrod Bowen having half shots.
Almost directly after, a mix up between Marc Guéhi and Jordan Pickford led to Vladislavs Gutkovskis being presented with a golden opportunity to give his country a shock lead. However, he could only hit the side netting from a narrow angle.
Ezri Konsa thought he had given England the lead in the 21st minute, but Latvia keeper Krisjanis Zviedris did brilliantly to deny him from close range.
Zviedris made a mess of dealing with Rashford’s cross just before the half hour mark, and was fortunate VAR did not deem his soft challenge on Bowen anything more than that.
Having failed to break through from open play, England took the lead from a free kick. Reece James stepped up and curled home a stunning effort that left Zviedris motionless. It was his first goal for his country on his first start in over two years.
📸 GLYN KIRK – AFP or licensors
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