Tonight, the Latvian national team faced England for the first time ever in front of a record large crowd of 79254 people at Wembley Stadium, suffering a 3-0 defeat. Despite conceding three goals, Krišjānis Zviedris performed excellently in his second match for Latvia.
Paolo Nicolato made one change compared to a game with Andorra. Alvis Jaunzems was in the starting lineup in place of Deniss Meļņiks.
In the 11th minute, Andrejs Cigaņiks intercepted the ball from Jarred Bowen and passed it to Jānis Ikaunieks, who made a fantastic run down the left side, carrying the ball half the length of the pitch and earning Latvia their first corner kick of the game.
A significant chance for Latvia to take the lead arose in the 17th minute when a miscommunication between Guehi and Pickford allowed Gutkovskis a clear shot at an open net from a tight angle, but he missed the opportunity. What a chance that was!
Just a few minutes later, Krišjānis Zviedris made an incredible save in what was the biggest game of his career. After an England corner kick, the initial header was blocked by one of their own players, but the rebound fell to Konsa, who hit a powerful shot directly at Zviedris from close range. Zviedris showed remarkable reflexes to keep the score at 0-0.
England continued to apply pressure with their attacks. Harry Kane managed to outmuscle Raivis Jurkovskis to reach a cross, but his header went over the goal.
In the 27th minute, Latvian fans held their breath as a lengthy VAR check took place after Zviedris lunged at Jarred Bowen’s feet moments before. However, the referee allowed play to continue.
England’s pressure eventually paid off in the 38th minute. Vladislavs Gutkovskis fouled Myles Lewis-Skelly just outside the box, leading to a fabulous free-kick from Reece James, which sailed into the top right corner of the net. Krišjānis Zviedris had no chance to save that one, making the score 0-1.
In the 44th minute, Latvia finally managed to get their first shot on target. Alvis Jaunzems took a long-range strike that went straight into Pickford’s hands, who made a comfortable save. Just before the half-time whistle, Krišjānis Zviedris made another excellent save, this time stopping a shot from Morgan Rogers as he stood tall at the near post. The referee then blew the whistle for half-time.
At the start of the second half, Roberts Savaļnieks was injured and could not continue the game. In the 54th minute, Visakha FC defender Vitālijs Jagodinskis replaced him.
England scored their second goal in the 68th minute when Marcus Rashford made a pass to Declan Rice, who was making a run into space. Rice then sent the ball to the front of the net, where Harry Kane took advantage of Alvis Jaunzems’ momentary lapse of concentration and added another goal to his tally, bringing the score to 2-0 in favor of England.
The strong defensive performance from the first half diminished in the second half. In the 76th minute, Eze scored the third goal for England with an impressive individual effort. His shot deflected off the leg of Antonijs Černomordijs and found its way into the net, marking Eze’s first goal for the English national team.
In the 83rd minute, Niks Sliede, a defender for FC RFS, made his debut for the Latvian national team at Wembley Stadium at the age of 21.
England could muster one more goal as Latvia ended up losing 3-0 in front of over 2000 strong Latvians supporting the game. The next World Cup qualifying match for Latvia will be on the 10th of June when they will host Albania.
England vs Latvia – 3:0 (1:0)
Goals: James 38′, Kane 68′, Eze 76′
Yellow Card: Meļņiks 85′, Šits 89′
ENG: Pickford – James, Guehi, Konsa, Lewis-Skelly (Walker 79′) – Bellingham (Foden 67′), Rice (Henderson 79′) – Bowen (Eze 61′), Rogers, Rashford (Jones 79′) – Kane
LAT: Zviedris – Savaļnieks (Jagodinskis 54′), Jurkovskis (Dašķevičs 61′), Černomordijs, Balodis (Sliede 84′), Cigaņiks – Jaunzems, Saveļjevs, Zelenkovs – Ikaunieks (Meļņiks 84′), Gutkovskis (Šits 61′)