England made it two wins from two in World Cup qualifying to secure the ideal start to the Thomas Tuchel era – although not every player was at their best at Wembley. Following Friday night’s win over Albania, the Three Lions beat Latvia 3-0 on Monday evening. Reece James’ gorgeous first-half free-kick opened the scoring after a dull first half before captain Harry Kane’s 71st international goal doubled the advantage.
Substitute Eberechi Eze then scored his very first goal for his country off of the bench, showing lovely feet to work his way into the box before finishing. The victory means Tuchel’s side top Group K with six points ahead of facing Andorra in their next qualifier in June. Express Sport rates and slates the England players after a second successive victory…
England player ratings vs Latvia
Jordan Pickford – 6
Got into a right tangle to gift Latvia a golden chance to score. And then had nothing else to do.
Reece James – 7
Struggled to settle, but made amends before half-time with a stunning free-kick to fire England ahead.
Ezri Konsa – 7
Denied a goal by a wonder save. Had little defending to do but has been impressive in both games.
Marc Guehi – 6
Collided with Pickford in a first half pickle and never seemed to recover. Lacked confidence and should have scored late on.
Myles Lewis-Skelly – 6
Operated as an inverted full-back, but struggled to make as much impact as he did against Albania.
Declan Rice – 7
Another hard working display in midfield from someone who has become the personification of consistency.
Jude Bellingham – 5
Nothing seemed to work and was lucky not to get sent off, before being eventually hauled off.
Jarrod Bowen – 6
Flattered to deceive from start to finish. Needs to do more to be part of Tuchel’s plans.
Morgan Rogers – 6
Blew a great chance to make his mark at the highest level. Didn’t make any impact whatsoever.
Marcus Rashford – 8
Looked lively on the left wing and grew in confidence. But still not back to his very best.
Harry Kane – 7
Missed a good headed chance in first half and never looked like being at his sharpest but then scored.
Substitutes
Eberechi Eze (replaced Bowen 61)
Phil Foden (replaced Bellingham 67)
Curtis Jones (replaced Rashford 79)
Jordan Henderson (replaced Rice 79)
Kyle Walker (replaced Lewis-Skelly 79)
LATVIA (5-4-1): Zviedris 9; Savalnieks 7 (Jagodinskis 54,7), Jurkovskis 8 (Daskevics 61, 7), Cernomordijs 8, Balodis 7, Ciganiks 6; Juanzems 7, Saveljevs 7, Zelenkovs 7, Ikaunieks 6; Gutkovskis 5 (Sits 61, 6).
Referee: Orel Grinfeeld (ISR) – 6
